The Clouds that cast Shadows
by Choco-Meru-Blast
Summary: Meru Francis moves to Namimori for middle school having spent her earlier school years in America. She's half japanese and half american, the cousin of Yamamoto Takeshi. A brilliant tennis player among Nami middle students. She's an important person in Tsuna's mafia family? There's another guardian? Now she gets involved with a certain carnivore to top it all. HibarixOC
1. Chapter 1

This is my first KHR fanfic :D so please bare with me. I'm always imagining about these guys so why not slap this stuff down somewhere? It shouldn't be that bad to read, right? :D... Since its been really long since KHR came out, I don't expect a lot of people to read this. I could be wrong, but that's just my thought. I'd be happy if someone did read it though :)

Anyways, I don't own KHR or it's characters! OC is mine though~

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"We have a transfer student today class, please treat her kindly. She's spent her previous school years in America so show her around and help her out. Come on in." The teacher finished explaining and urged her to come in.

Everyone watched in anticipation as the door slid open and a girl with waist-lengthed silky black hair and sharp teal eyes entered. She wore the uniform that fit her just perfectly and had a tennis racket sticking out of her bag. Her face held no emotions as she stood in front of the class. "Introduce yourself please" the teacher said, not really caring. The girl bowed and introduced herself. "Meru Francis, nice to meet you." She slightly smiled at everyone, causing everyone to stare at her, questioning why she was so gorgeous.

"Oh! Meru!" A certain baseball player shouted with a wide grin on his face. Then a shy brunette spoke suddenly." You know her Yamamoto?" Yamamoto's grin grew even wider. "Yep! She's my cousin after all!" Everyones reaction was the same. "EH?!"

They all looked back at Meru and she nodded at Yamamoto. "Hello Take-kun. It's been a while." Everyone was taken back by the sudden news. "Oi! Baseball freak, you had a cousin that was half japanese and half american?" A white haired guy threw a questioning glare towards him. "Yep! I never mentioned it?" Yamamoto went clueless. "You didn't you idiot!" The white haired guy glared at him.

"All right class settle down! Ms. Francis, please take your seat next to Sasagawa-san. Sasagawa, please raise your hand. Can you also show her around the campus after class, that'd be helpful." A girl with short orange hair raised her hand and smiled kindly at Meru. "Hai sensei, I'd be glad to show her around."

~ AFTER CLASS~

The bell rang and everyone began to pack up and head out for lunch. Meru was talking to Kyoko about the school and everything about it. "Thank you for helping me Kyoko-chan. Is it alright to call you that?" Meru asked. "Of course! Can I call you Meru-chan then?" The black haired girl nodded. "Great! I'm glad I made a new friend! And you're half american and half japanese too! That's so cool! How's it like in America?" Kyoko asked, interested in the foreign country.

"It's beautiful but I really love Japan's culture more than anything else." Meru smiled at her. Before they could talk anymore, a group of people swarmed all over Meru and Kyoko. People asked questions all at the same time. Some guys asking Meru out, some girls asking to be her friend and etc.

From a distance, Yamamoto grouped up with Tsuna and Gokudera. "Tch," Gokudera clicked his tongue. "These idiots are making a big deal about some transfer student and baseball freak's cousin no less." He scoffed rudely, unaware that Meru heard it. "A-ah Gokudera-kun! Don't say something like that!" Tsuna frantically waved his hands around. "Mah mah, It's not everyday that a mixed transfer student comes here. Why not enjoy it? Haha!" Yamamoto laughed it off, not aware that Gokudera insulted him and his cousin.

"Is there a problem with me?" A girly voice game from behind Gokudera who had a tennis racket pushed against his throat. Tsuna started freaking out. "EEEEH! GOKUDERA-KUN! MERU-SAN!" "Meru!" Yamamoto exclaimed, shocked to see his cousin do that. "What the hell? Let me go crazy woman!" Gokudera growled and pulled out his dynamite. Meru's eyes narrowed and she released her tennis racket from his neck to hit them out of the open window.

Gokudera glared at her harshly. He was about to pull out another set of dynamite until Tsuna stopped him and Yamamoto tried to calm his cousin down. "Gokudera-kun! Please don't fight!" He pleaded, worried for everyone's safety including his own. "Meru! No need to fight." Under Yamamoto's worried stare, she backed off. Gokudera backed off too. "Tch, you're lucky Juudaime stopped me!" Tsuna sweat dropped. 'But it looked like she was winning'

Meru just stared at them and turned to Yamamoto. "Take-kun, is there a tennis court here?" Her teal eyes stared into his chocolate brown orbs questioningly. "Huh? Yeah! Do you want to try for tennis here?" He smiled down at her, being taller than her (and everyone else). She nodded solemnly like a shy child. But Meru wasn't shy, she just didnt talk much. "I'll show you then! Come on!" He placed his arm over her shoulder and began to walk out. "Oh before we go, this is Tsuna and this is Gokudera, my friends!" He pointed to each and introduced them. Meru stared at Tsuna with her sharp eyes and nodded at him, which made him nervous, and glanced at Gokudera for a second and ignored him.

"She doesn't mean any harm guys, she's just not comfortable around different people and environments." Yamamoto whispered to them. "So please be nice to her." "Be nice to her? She attacked me! And she's a possible threat to Juudaime! I'm keeping an eye on her" Gokudera narrowed his eyes at Meru who heard everything they said but ignored it. "We can do that Yamamoto, you must really care for her." Tsuna smiled lightly at his rain guardian. "Of course, she's important family!" Yamamoto grinned at them.

Meru was eager to see the tennis court so she tugged on Yamamoto's shirt and pointed towards the door. "Huh? Oh right, lets go."

They walked through the busy halls with Meru clinging to Yamamoto and Tsuna and Gokudera trailing behind. She disliked crowds and people very much. It was disgusting having random people rub against you. You never knew what they had on them and people were just rude, bumping into you and not saying sorry. (AU: I actually don't like crowded places and I hate most people. Yep.)

Then all of the sudden, people started scurrying away creating space in the middle of the hallway. The group stopped walking, wondering what was going on until a prefect stood in front of them. "Herbivores, you're crowding. I'll bite you to death." A black haired guy pulled out a pair of tonfas and glared at the group. As he looked at them, he noticed a face he's never seen before.

He glared into her teal orbs which didn't even flinch. His eyes narrowed dangerously at her, was she trying to say that he had no affect on her? "Hi-Hibari-San!" Tsuna squeaked nervously."Don't you threaten Juudaime!" Gokudera stood in front of Tsuna protectively. "A-ah, Hibari, this is my cousin, she just transferred here!" Yamamoto rubbed the back of his neck and laughed nervously.

"Hn." Hibari ignored it since he didn't care and lunged towards them with his tonfas anyway. Tsuna panicked. "He's going to bite us anyway!" Yamamoto tightened his hold on Meru and frowned. This was bad. But Meru wasn't going to have any of it.

Hibari ran towards Tsuna and swung his arm. Tsuna closed his eyes before Hibari's tonfa hit him but he didn't feel anything. Before a tonfa came down on Tsuna, it was blocked by a tennis racket. He opened his eyes to see Meru blocking him."Wow." Hibari smirked as he jumped away. "Meru-San.." The three guys were surprised to see Meru suddenly do that. 'Who is she? To fight Gokudera off and block Hibari's attack!' Tsuna thought to himself.

Meru brought her racket down but she still had her guard up. "Why are you attacking my cousin and his friends?" She spoke quietly but loud enough for everyone to hear. "I don't like repeating myself Herbivore." Hibari glared at her and ran towards her with his tonfas since she looked so ready to fight him.

He ducked as he came close to her and was aiming for her torso but she jumped over him and used her racket to hit his back. He used his other arm and blocked the racket. "Meru-San!" "Meru!" Tsuna and Yamamoto both shouted, worried for her. "Hibari-San! Please don't fight!" Tsuna pleaded. Why is this happening now?

They ignored him and continued fighting. Hibari swung his right arm aiming for Meru's shoulder but she blocked it with the handle of the racket with the racket upside down. She swung the racket in her hand so that it hit his chin. He was able to dodge most of the hit, only a little scratch appeared on his chin. He glared at her and swiped his leg, tripping her and pinned her to the ground.

The air was knocked out of her as her back made contact with the floor. Her racket landed right above her hand but Hibari's left hand pinned both of her wrists down and his right hand held a tonfa on her neck, slightly choking her. She grinned her teeth and glared at him through one eye. He smirked down at her and was too busy to notice her fingers wiggling to grab her the handle of her racket. She was able to get a hold of it after a few seconds of struggling. "I win," he smirked smugly at her. "Not yet," she huffed angrily as she brought her racket down on his head, hard.

The affect of the hit made him falter in his hold on her and she pushed him aside so she was on top of him and pinned him down. Her knees held his arms down and she held her racket to his neck. She leaned closer to his face and smiled. "I win." She stared at him, her eyes dancing with excitement. She's never fought someone like him before.

She focused on his face and noticed he was actually handsome. But then she noticed a very very light shade a pink on his cheeks. You couldn't see it unless you were fact to face at a very close distance. Meru were curious as to why he was blushing and she was brought out of her thoughts when her cousin shouted at her."Meru! Your shirt!"

Said girl looked down at her attire and noticed the first few buttons of her uniform shirt were open and showed some cleavage. It must've happened during the fight. "Oh.." She reacted nonchalantly. "Don't just say Oh!" Tsuna screamed with a blushing face. Gokudera, who also was blushing, yelled at her. "Have some decency stupid woman!" Then a tennis ball connected with his face, knocking him out.

Tsuna and Yamamoto fell to his side. "Gokudera-kun!" "Gokudera!" The two looked around to find the source and their heads directed towards Meru who was still straddling Hibari. She glared at the unconscious bomberman. "Meru-San! Why are you still on Hibari-San?" Tsuna asked frantically, embarrassed in their situation. Meru made a look as if she forgot about him and looked below her. The demon of Namimori glared at her. "Herbivore, get off of me."

Meru got off of him and stood aside. Hibari stood up and hit het head with his tonfa. She flinched and held her head. "Ow! I already won!" Meru frowned at him. "If you think you can fight me and expect to get the last hit, you're wrong herbivore." Hibari turned around and walked off.

"Geez I beat you fair and square! And what's up with the Herbivore?" Meru pouted as she cradled the forming bruise on her head. She held her tennis racket and walked over to Tsuna and her cousin and the unconscious boy."Take-kun~! Take me to the tennis court!" Meru jumped on Yamamoto and hung onto him.

"Meru-San?" Tsuna called out to her cautiously. "I swore that she wouldn't say a peep before we met Hibari-San." Tsuna scratched the back of his head. Her personality suddenly changed, he couldn't be wrong about that.

"Right, about that.." Yamamoto held onto to her so she wouldn't fall and stood up. "Yamamoto?" Tsuna stared at him questioningly. Did he know something? "Meru has multiple personalities." Yamamoto stared at his cousin who was cuddling into his chest. "Eh? Meru-San does?" Tsuna stared disbelievingly at her. "Yeah, she becomes like this when she gets excited. When she's calm, she doesn't show emotions or say anything and when she's mad, she can become really scary and mean. Like what happened to Gokudera, but if nothing happens then its all good!" He grinned at the small brunette.

"That sure is something...when did she learn to fight?" Tsuna asked, remembering what happened during her and Hibari's fight. Yamamoto scratched his cheek, thinking. "I actually don't know. Hey, Meru." He called softly to the girl who was resting in his arms. 'They must be really close, the atmosphere is so weird!' Tsuna sweat dropped at the sweet looking scene in front of him. "Hmm?" She hummed, not bothering to open her eyes. "When did you learn to fight?"

"Oh that? I taught myself." She replied quietly as if she was about to fall asleep. " Eh?! She taught herself!" Tsuna's eyes were wide as he took in the news. 'Just WHAT is this girl?!'

"Take-kun!" Meru called out. "Yeah?" "I'm hungry." "Okay, lets go get can look at the tennis courts later." He smiled down at her. Tsuna stared blankly at them.' What's with this family?'

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Excuse any grammar/spelling mistakes, English is not my first language c: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! More HibarixMeru coming soon! Ah, poor Tsuna, going through so much crap everyday :D lets add more trouble to deal with :3


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys :) some people actually read it :D I'm happy! It's the amount of people I was totally expecting for this :)

I don't own KHR or it's Characters. Meru is mine :3

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"This is the tennis court?" Meru observed the area, comparing it with the courts in America. "Yeah! It might not be what you're used to but it's good!" Yamamoto smiled cheekily at her. She hummed while looking at every inch of the court. "Hmm, I can get used to it. Is there a top player at this school?" She turned around and smiled brightly at him, she was excited seeing the tennis court and couldn't wait to play. "Yeah, a guy named Matoki Tsukiyama, why?" Yamamoto stared down at her curiously. "To play against him of course," She gave him a look saying 'what-else?'

"Eh? You're going to challenge him?" Tsuna was shocked. It was only him there with them since they left Gokudera in the school infirmary. "Yeah, I can't just play an amateur silly Tuna!" Meru giggled and pinched the brunette's cheek, making it red. "Ite! M-Meru-San!" He whined and flailed about. She released him and took out her tennis racket. "Go call this Matoki guy out so I can play him Tsuna! Hurry!" Meru pointed in a random direction with her racket and yelled towards the wimpy kid. He sweat dropped.'why me?!'

He reluctantly walked away to call Tsukiyama out while Meru and Yamamoto waited. Meru pulled out a tennis ball from her bag and walked into the court. "Neh Take-kun, how good is this Matoki guy?" she asked while serving the ball as a warm up. The ball flew at a deadly speed and despite the wall being so far, the ball ricocheted off the wall and bounced back to her like nothing.

Yamamoto stood aside and watched her in astonishment. "He's really good if you ask me, He's made first place in a whole bunch of tournaments!" He grinned at the awesomeness of this guy. Meru frowned and paused in her serving. "And national tournaments?" She bit her lip and stared long at her cousin. He furrowed his brows while in thought. "No I don't think so." "Tch, he's weak." Meru scoffed, not bothering with her warm up anymore after finding out how far Matoki went in tennis. "Eh?" Yamamoto tilted his head confused.

"I said-" "Meru-San! He's here!" Tsuna interrupted Meru and was walking towards them with a guy following him holding a tennis racket. They approached the two and Tsuna introduced the guy to them. "This is Matoki Tsukiyama-San." He announced, glancing nervously at Meru and Matoki.

"I was told you wanted to play me?" Matoki pointed at Meru. She smiled and held out her hand. "Yep! Meru Francis, your challenger. Nice to meet you Matoki-kun!" She grinned at him. He shook her hand and smiled at her. 'She's so cute, she wants to challenge me? Poor girl' was what was running through his mind, Meru could tell. "So you're the famous transfer student everyone is talking about, I'm honored to play with you." He grinned her at her, obviously underestimating her. "Enough chit chat, lets play." Meru suddenly grew serious and turned away from them, getting back to her spot on the court. The guys blinked at her sudden change and shrugged.

The two got into place and Matoki offered to let her serve. "No, I want to see Matoki-kun's skills," she replied dully. Tsuna and Yamamoto hadn't realize it before but when they looked harder at Meru, her eyes were hard and she was very serious. "wait..there's something different about her eyes." Tsuna squinted at her, his super intuition skills kicking in. "Her eyes..THEY'RE LIGHT BLUE INSTEAD OF TEAL!" He screamed in shock. He turned to Yamamoto hoping to get an answer. "what's going on Yamamoto?!" He asked frantically. "I don't know! I've never seen anything like this before!" Yamamoto replied while staring at his cousin, hoping to grasp onto the situation.

The two on the court however, ignored the mess that was happening outside of the court. "Alright then, since you're new, I'll go easy on you." Matoki replied smugly. Meru smirked as she held her racket. "Your mistake mister" she mumbled beneath her breath. He served and easy hit and Meru ran for it but she missed. She ran too slow and missed. Yamamoto and Tsuna stared in shock at her, she challenged him but she was already losing? Yamamoto was more surprised, after witnessing her serves and all. Matoki grinned sympathetically. "it's alright, no one gets it all at first." He served another and a ball whipped past his head automatically, successfully bouncing once in his area before smashing into the wall.

"Whoops, too hard?" Meru yawned. "Sorry about the first one, I needed a little more time to get ready." She smiled innocently at him. Tsuna and Yamamoto stared in awe. "W-what? s-sure! But you w-won't get the next one!" Matoki stuttered in shock. "I let you serve because if I served, you'd be done for. So hurry up before I get bored with you." Meru narrowed her eyes and glared at him. He clicked his tongue and served again, this time, harder. "Hah, hit that!"

Meru barely moved as the ball was sent back to Matoki, bouncing on the floor and hitting him square in the face. He fell on the ground and groaned. "Sorry." Meru deadpanned. "You don't look nor sound sorry at all!" Tsuna cried out. Matoki glared at her and got back up. He growled and sent another ball only to have it sent back immediately. He tried to hit it but it was too fast for him. This continued for another 10 minutes or so and a huge crowd was now observing the match.

"No way, the transfer student is beating Matoki! The school champion!" A random guy yelled. The crowd of students watched in awe and shock as the champion tennis player of the school was having his ass handed to him. "Matoki has one point while Meru has...everything else..." Tsuna shoulders slumped, disbelieving the sight before him. Meru had speed and skills. She was a MONSTER.

"Done yet?" Meru leaned against the wall. Her eyes staring at a panting Matoki. He was nearly dying while she didnt even break a sweat. "W-what are you?" He breathed out heavily. "Oh, just a normal girl who won the nationals. What about it?" She answered uninterestedly while observing her nails.

Everyone grew silent in shock. The nationals! They couldn't believe it! Before anyone said anything else, a deep voice arose from the crowd. "Herbivores, you're crowding." Everyone grew stiff from fear, recognizing that voice and phrase. Being the smart people they are, everyone ran away before they could be 'bitten to death'. Even the tired and worn out Matoki who was so very close to passing out suddenly got the energy to book it out of there. Tsuna,Yamamoto and Meru remained. Tsuna panicked as the demon came closer. "H-Hibari-San!" He squeaked.

"Oh, Hibari-kun!" Meru snapped out of her serious-mode and grinned sillily at them. No one seemed to notice but her eyes went from light blue and back to teal. This always happens when she becomes seriously...serious. And tennis happens to be something she takes seriously, she doesn't see it as just a sport. Its her entire life. Its all she's spent most of her life playing. It's something she uses to escape her crazy life.

His eyes narrowed dangerously at her. Apparently he didn't want to be called Hibari-kun."I did not say you could address be as such herbivore," he glared at her. She stuck her tongue out at him," well you're not the boss of me. I'll do whatever I want." She had already put her racket and tennis ball away and was currently standing with the group.

Hibari was suddenly in front of her at a very close distance and held a tonfa at her neck. "I dare you to say that again." He glared at her. Tsuna and Yamamoto started to panic, this was starting to get bad again. Meru just giggled and held the tonfa away from her neck with surprising strength that Hibari could not break away from. "I said I can do whatever I want and there's nothing you can do about it. Like this." Meru tippy-toed and kissed his cheek, surprising everyone. "You're cute when you're angry," Meru giggled. If Hibari was surprised, he did very well to hide it. He used his other arm to hit her but she was already skipping away back to class. Tsuna and Yamamoto stared wide-eyed at Hibari, just witnessing what happened. "I can't believe Meru-San just did that!" Tsuna yelled, feeling very bad about what was going to happen to her.

He felt a pair of eyes in him and turned to see Hibari with a murderous aura around him. To avoid being bitten to death, Tsuna grabbed Yamamoto and scurried away.

They never realized an infant dressed in a black suit with a black fedora decorated with an orange stripe was watching them. His little beady eyes watched Meru leave with a glint in his eye, he was smirking.

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Meru yawned as the teacher continued with the lesson, already haven learned this material before. She propped up her chin on her arm and stared out the window where she caught a certain prefect beating up a group of delinquents. She watched in amusement as they all fell in one swoop and Hibari walked away, leaving the other committee members to deal with the unconscious and beaten bodies. Her eyes followed his form in confusion. 'Who is this guy? Why does he beat up so many people? And oh my god, why did I do that to him earlier?! Curse my excited self' Meru winced at the memory and buried her face in embarrassment.

Yes, she was embarrassed. And another thing about her, when she gets embarrassed, she turns into, well, a normal girl. Actually becoming really clumsy sighed and groaned into her arms. "Is there something wrong Francis-San?" Her teacher called her out. her head whipped up in reaction to her name and she flushed. "N-no sensei! S-sorry!" She stuttered with her cheeks flaring. The class snickered and she covered her face once again, leaving her cousin and his two friends wondering what was happening.

Oh and another thing, when she 'turns' into a normal girl, it lasts for days, maybe weeks depending on how embarrassed she was. This was going to last for about 4 days? Yeah, seems like it. She sat in her seat waiting for the bell to ring so she could leave. After a few minutes which felt like eternity, the bell rang to her anticipation and she instantly stood up and walked over to her cousin. She saw that he was done packing and grabbed his arm, dragging him out of class earning her questioning stares from him,Tsuna, and Gokudera.

"Meru? What's wrong?" Yamamoto asked her, following her fast pace. "I'm just really tired, it being my first day here and all. Can we just go home?" She answered hurriedly, wanting to leave before any mishap occurs. "Okay but why are you hurrying so much?" Yamamoto scratched his head confused.

"Uh..I was slightly injured earlier and I think it's best to get rest as soon as possible." She threw out nervously, uncomfortable with lying to her favorite cousin. "Really? Where? Why didn't you say so!" He frowned slightly, obviously worried about her. Now she felt even more bad about lying to him. He pulled on her arm, stopping her from walking. He bent down and pointed to his back. "Get on, I'll carry you," he looked at her through concerned and caring eyes. She bit her bottom lip.

Meru didn't want her cousin to go through all that trouble but if she were to back off now, her lie would become obvious. So she nodded reluctantly and climbed onto his back, clinging on his shoulders to support herself. He carried her like she was nothing and walked out of school. The way home didn't take long but Meru was exhausted. She closed her eyes to the comfort of her cousin's back and let her mind drift. Before she fell asleep, some thoughts came across her mind.

'Did I just make an enemy of the famous Hibari Kyoya? I can't believe I actually did that. I wish I could stay in this 'normal girl' state forever, it's the only time I can really ever think straight. Why can't I remember everything that's happened with all my other 'selves' but can only remember bits and pieces, like kissing a demon on the cheek but what was I doing before that?' Her eyes furrowed as she buried her face in the back of Yamamoto's neck, receiving a curious glance from said guy.

'aaah, what do I do?' Meru mentally sighed, knowing her life was always screwed up.

"We're home!" Yamamoto opened the front door after Meru climbed off his back. "Welcome back!" A little girl younger than the two first years ran up to them and hugged them. She had black hair and fair skin like Meru but she had brown eyes identical to Yamamoto's, obviously receiving the trait from the Yamamoto side of the family.

"Haha! Hey Azumi!" Yamamoto grinned and patted her head. She smiled brightly at her cousin. Yes, she was Yamamoto's younger cousin, also Meru's 11 year old sister. "Mama and papa went out grocery shopping with uncle Tsu, so it's just us right now," Azumi walked into the kitchen, informing them of their missing parents using "Tsu" as her way of calling Yamamoto's dad. "How long gave they been gone?" Meru placed her bag down on the floor near the wall and joined her sister in the kitchen.

Azumi pulled out a big bento box filled with all sorts of sushi. "They left just five minutes ago, won't be back until an hour." She pulled out three plates and divided the sushi, filling every corner of each plate. Yamamoto soon joined them and brought the plates to the table. Meru grabbed 3 pairs of chopsticks and Azumi grabbed 3 glasses of water.

"Oh, then we'll just do whatever til then?" Meru asked, distributing the chopsticks and water. "Yep, and with this traditional competition for starters. Ready?" Azumi pointed her chopsticks toward the sushi readily. If you haven't noticed, they were having a sushi eating competition to see who finishes first.

"Go!" Yamamoto grinned as they dug in. They always did this when Meru and Azumi came to visit and their parents were gone. Only the sound of chopsticks hitting against plates and glasses of water being placed down was heard.

* * *

"I won!" The younger of the three shouted out happily. Yamamoto laughed and Meru rolled her eyes. "Fatty," she playfully insulted her younger sister. "Hey!" Azumi puffed out her cheeks. "Whatever, now you have to take me wherever I wanna go!" She stuck her tongue out at her older sister. "So what are we gonna do?" Yamamoto smiled at them, wonder and excitement dancing in his eyes like always. Before anyone could suggest anything, there was a knock on the door. "I'll get that!" Yamamoto stood and disappeared around the corner, answering the door.

Azumi folded her arms and turned to her older sister. "You're acting normal, what lame and embarrassing thing did you do on your first day?" She smirked amusingly at Meru. The older of the two blushed from embarrassment. "Oh shut up! It's n-nothing you need to know about!" Meru turned away angrily, hiding her humiliation. "Did you trip and flash someone? Did you say something stupid in class? Were you bullied on? Did someone pour food all over you? Did you accidentally kiss someone?" Her sister pounced on her with a devilish grin. Meru sweat dropped at the last one. 'That's so close to what happened!'

Not like she'd tell though. "I said shut up and leave me alone! What about you? You're being super obnoxious. Is there something you're trying to hide?" Meru narrowed her eyes at Azumi. Said girl froze and turned away. "N-no! Now e-excuse me while I have work to d-do!" She stomped away into the room she shared with Meru and slammed the door. Meru smirked knowingly,'bullseye!'

"Meru-San?" A high pitched voice suddenly called out, making her turn her attention elsewhere. "Tsuna-kun?" She stood up, seeing him enter behind Yamamoto with Gokudera and a little baby in a suit. 'Oh, he's already awake." Meru stared blankly at Gokudera who was glaring daggers at her.

"Ciaossu" an even _higher_ pitched voice spoke. Her eyes moved to the baby on Yamamoto's shoulders automatically. "Aww how cute! Is he with you Tsuna?" Meru's eyes beamed as she took Reborn of Yamamoto's shoulders into her arms. The brunette sweat dropped at the question. 'Unfortunately he's a hitman who came to tutor me and prepare me to become the Vongola's tenth generation boss, so yeah, he's with me.' was what was running through his mind but he couldn't say that.

Tsuna opened his mouth to say something but was cut off. "I'm here to tutor No-good-Tsuna and turn him into a fit boss for the tenth generation Vongola Family." Reborn smirked. Meru stared down at the baby in her arms and patted his head. "I had no idea he was going to be the next boss!" Meru stared shockingly at Tsuna. Tsuna's jaw dropped as he stared at her dumbly. 'Is she really going along with it?'

"That's right Meru, he's your boss you'll be working for." Reborn informed her, making Tsuna glare at him with his not-so-intimidating self. "Reborn! Don't drag innocent people into this! And she's Yamamoto's cousin! No way we can involve anyone's family!" The young boss fretted, tired of the crap Reborn was pulling.

"Stupid-Tsuna," Reborn jumped out of Meru's arms and kicked Tsuna in the face. The boy fell to the floor with a small footprint on his cheek. Reborn then returned to his spot on Yamamoto's shoulders. "J-juudaime!" Gokudera shouted, falling to the floor next to his 'beloved-boss'. "Meru's already involved in the Mafia. She's one of your guardians." Reborn tilted his hat and smirked.

The three guys in the room froze and stared at Reborn. "What? What do you mean she's one of my guardians?" Tsuna asked nervously, worried if Meru really was involved with them. He didn't want to risk it if she didn't know anything.

"You don't need to act dumb," Meru frowned slightly at the floor. "Yeah, I'm with you guys. I'm a-" Meru was about to reveal what ring she held but Reborn cut her off. "You guys will learn later what ring she holds, nows not the time for that." Reborn stared hard at Meru, making her shrink away in her spot. "Eh? So you really are..." Tsuna trailed off, not needing to say anymore. Then he shot up and turned towards his rain guardian. "How do you feel about this Yamamoto? This is dangerous!" Tsuna cried out, desperate to keep as many people out as possible. He didn't want anyone to get involved with something so dangerous all because of him.

Yamamoto's expression was unreadable for the first time. "This game...I think it has enough people. Is it okay if Meru just stands back?" His fists tightened, remembering the ring battle and how everyone was hurt. He obviously knew it was no game.

Tsuna was surprised by his words. "Yamamoto..."

"Sorry, but no can do." Meru shuffled her feet and gave a determined look. "She's an important guardian Tsuna, without her, you'll be in deep trouble you won't be able to dig yourself out of." Reborn said as he hopped off Yamamoto's shoulders.

"Tch, what's so important about that girl?" Gokudera glared at her, angry that she was claimed to be very needed in the Vongola family. 'Juudaime only needs me!' He glowered at her. Meru rolled her eyes and walked away from the group, turning to go to her guest room. "You wouldn't understand hothead," She ignored his glare and left.

They all fell silent after she entered her room. Reborn smirked and hopped onto Tsuna's head. Tsuna frowned as he thought about Meru. Why was she involved without them knowing? "Neh Reborn," He looked up, wondering if he could ask the baby a question. "What is it my no-good-student." Reborn answered. "When was Meru a guardian?"

"whenever everyone else was a guardian. They were all chosen before hand." He answered. "What about her ring? What other kind of flame is there? And what about the ring battles? She's a guardian so she should've participated right? The Varia didn't have another ring holder either..." Tsuna frowned as he shot out questions one after another. Reborn had no trouble answering him.

"Meru holds 2 rings, a sun ring and...the other you should ask her herself. The other flame thats out there is something you'll find out once you've asked Meru. She couldn't participate in the battle for the rings because she had no one to fight. The flame she holds is very rare. If Xanxus was accepted as the next boss then Meru would then work for him instead of you." Reborn showed no emotions as he answered them.

"Eh? Meru has 2 different rings?! And no way, is it as rare as sky class flames?" Tsuna furrowed his brows, looking at him incredulously. "As far as I know, Meru is the only one with her flame. Her sun class flame is weaker than her other flame though." Reborn tilted his fedora to cover his eyes. He knew very well what flame Meru had and the active factor it carried with it. There's a reason why it's such a rare flame.

"Hmph! She's not so strong even if she does have two different flames!" Gokudera scoffed, not accepting that a weak looking girl like her could be strong. "Gokudera-kun.." Tsuna sighed at his friend's usual behavior. He then turned to Yamamoto who he realized was silent the entire time. His eyes met with a concerned Yamamoto.

Said boy had a slight frown, obviously worried about Meru being involved with them. He didnt want her to get hurt, it'd tear him to pieces. "Yamamoto," a little voice called out sternly. Yamamoto snapped out of whatever trance he was in and questioningly stared at Reborn. "Kid?" "This is no time for sulking, what's done is done." The baby said sternly.

"Yamamoto...Reborn!" Tsuna felt sympathy for the baseball player and was irritated with Reborn. There has been way too many times that Tsuna didn't want anyone to get hurt because of him. "Shut up Tsuna" Reborn pointed his gun towards Tsuna, threatening him. The boy panicked and backed away. "HIIIIIIIEE!" He screeched.

"You guys are still here?" Meru voiced out, leaning against the wall watching them through amused eyes. "Tsuna-kun, man up. Gokudera, calm the hell down. " Meru told them flatly, haven observed them for a while. "And Take-kun..." Meru turned to who cousin. Her eyes softened as she walked over to him. Meru hugged Yamamoto and he was surprised but returned the hug as well. "It's nice that your worried about me, you're such a kind hearted guy." Meru looked up at him as he looked down at her with wide eyes. "Meru.." "But, I can fend for myself. This girl doesn't need protection," she smirked playfully. "I bet I could even beat both you and Gokudera." She turned to Gokudera and winked, making him angry. "I could never beat Tsuna though, he's too powerful," she pouted at Tsuna, making him sweat drop. "Of course! Juudaime can beat anyone! And I seriously doubt you can defeat me you stupid woman." Gokudera glared at her.

Reborn smiled and jumped onto Meru's head. "Actually, she can beat all of Varia and is on par with Xanxus," Reborn stated calmly. "EH? REALLY?!" Tsuna looked at Meru with wide eyes. "No, but I've fought against 3 of the Varia and won them all. There's NO way I'm fighting Xanxus," Meru shuddered, scared to even speak that man's name. "If I was on par with Xanxus then I'd be almost as strong as you Tsuna-kun, and I'm not strong enough to fight you," she smiled at him. She knew her limits and wouldn't push it.

"I-I'm not that strong..." Tsuna stuttered, making Meru shake. 'Hes so CUTE!' her mind screamed. She was a sucker for cute things. Meru pounced on him and hugged him tightly. The expression on the boy's face was priceless. He was blushing so hard and sputtered nonsense. "You are strong Tsuna-kun! And cute too!" Meru giggled, he was way too cute.

"Hey! Let go of the Juudaime crazy woman! What do you think you're doing!" Gokudera shouted as he tried to pry Meru off of Tsuna but failed. She stuck to him like glue. Yamamoto laughed at them, bringing the fun atmosphere with him. Reborn just watched them with a mysterious smile on his face.

"Yama-kun? Meru-Nee?" Azumi poked her head around the corner trying to find out where the source of noise was coming from where she found her two family members along with two other people who looked around Meru's age. "Are these you're friends?" She shyly walked over, standing a distance away from the group. Meru stopped hugging Tsuna and released him -only to have him fall on the ground since he fainted- and turned her head over her shoulder. "Oh yeah, come over here." Meru waved her over. She walked over and stood beside her older sister.

"That's Tsuna-kun, a cute little wimp and Gokudera, a rude, annoying loud mouth. Becareful, he's a wild one." Meru pointed to them and Azumi nodded. "Who's that?" She pointed to a baby. "That's Reborn, don't be surprised when he talks." Meru warned her. "...?" Azumi stared at her sister questioningly.

"Is that your sister?" Tsuna who had woken up asked Meru. "Yeah," Meru replied. "How dare you talk to us like that!" Gokudera shouted. Tsuna smiled kindly at Azumi. "Nice to meet you err..." He trailed off, not knowing her name. Azumi shyly stepped back,"Azumi.." She said quietly. Meru looked at her for a few seconds then narrowed her eyes. "Why are you all shy brat?" her brows furrowed, questioning her sister's behavior. Azumi blushed and glared at Meru. "I'm just not comfortable around new people!" She yelled. "Well you seem comfortable to yell in front of them stupid!" Meru shouted back, shoving her back a few steps. Azumi fumed and attempted to kick her in the side but Meru caught her leg. Azumi was shocked and started flailing her arms, causing her self to lose balance on her one foot and fell in the end. "Idiot, you already know you can't fight me." Meru rolled her eyes.

Tsuna deadpanned at the sight. 'S-sibling love huh...' Then he realized something. "Wait, Reborn never introduced himself to you Meru. How did you know his name?" Tsuna asked, confused. "Oh, I'm surprised you caught that." Meru smiled and turned to him. "I pretended to not know him for fun. Wasn't as fun as I thought, it turned out boring. When I trained myself back then, he was with me. He guided me through my self-training. He told me when I was doing something REALLY wrong and that's about it. Other than that, he just watched me." Meru shrugged, having no more to say.

"Really? How old were you when you started training?" Yamamoto asked curiously. "Around 8," she answered nonchalantly. "So young! So was that when you were sucked into this Mafia business?" Tsuna asked warily. Meru sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I've been given a few missions. Coming here is actually a mission right now. A mission to protect the Tenth Generation Vongola boss." Meru moved to a chair so she could sit. Tsuna was about to ask another question but remembered someone else was with them. "i-is it o-okay to talk about _this _in front of Azumi-chan?" He panicked.

Said girl blinked and shrugged. Meru looked at Reborn, tired of answering questions. "She's going to be in the Mafia too, she's already started training." Reborn answered. Tsuna freaked out, Gokudera tried to calm him down and Yamamoto paled visibly. "Is this really okay? Yamamoto must be so worried!" Tsuna screeched. 'BOTH of his cousins are involved with the mafia! How dangerous and worrisome can this get for him and his family!' Tsuna clutched his head in frustration.

"Don't worry, I'll protect her," Meru grinned as she patted her head. Azumi huffed and swatted Meru's hand away. "I don't need you to protect me!" She turned away stubbornly. Meru's grin dropped as she roughly grabbed Azumi's shoulders and stared her in the eyes hard. "Azumi, the mafia is a _dangerous _thing. It was hard enough letting you even join _so don't push it."_ Meru hissed. Azumi stared wide eyed at her, speechless. Meru's eyes softened and she released her grip in her shoulder. "Do you know how terrible Take-kun will feel? How terrible I'll feel? How broken mother and father will be?" She smiled sadly at her younger sibling. "They do favor you more than me after all."

"Meru..." "Meru-San.." Yamamoto and Tsuna watched them with shock. Even Gokudera stayed silent. Reborn watched them without any expressions on his face.

"Onee-San.." Azumi stared up at her sister feeling her words. Tears welled up in her eyes and she turned away. "I...I know. I have stuff to do, cya," Azumi hid her eyes and walked away, leaving the group in silence.

Tsuna's hands clenched into fists. This didn't need to happen, innocent people didn't need to be involved. So why was this happening?! Anything could happen in the mafia, no one needed this! He turned to Reborn and searched his face for any answers but got none.

"Reborn! Why does this need to happen? Why are innocent people getting sucked into this crazy mafia stuff?!" he shouted, all of his worried emotions falling out. Reborn narrowed his eyes at his naive student. "That's how it is Tsuna, you can't control it." He replied, hiding his eyes. Tsuna couldn't accept that as an answer though. "THIS DOESN'T NEED TO HAPPEN! NO ONE DESERVES THIS!" He cried out, losing his mind through frustration and angst.

"Juudaime!" "Tsuna!" "Tsuna-kun!" Everyone called out to him, they were all in shock from his outburst. "Calm down Tsuna-kun!" Meru grabbed onto his arm gently. Tsuna realized he made everyone worried and stopped. What surprised him was Meru who hugged him out of nowhere. "M-Meru-San?" a little blush fell onto his cheeks. "Shh.. It's okay to be worried, but there are some things that you have no power to change. It's life, some people go through harder times than others. It's unfair, but it's how it is." she held him which was awkward for him since she was taller than him and his face was near her chest.

"Meru-San.." He stared at her, her words sinking in. "You're right...sorry for yelling like that." He apologized sincerely. " How about I tell you about my rings?" Meru grinned at them after releasing Tsuna from her hug. "Eh? Really?" Tsuna turned to Reborn to see if it was okay. "You want to know don't you?" He smiled at them knowingly. Well Tsuna was a tad bit curious. "Yeah..."

His answer made Meru smile at them more and she brought her hand out in front, showing her ring. The three guys leaned in closer to get a better look. It looked just like theirs but..." Oi, how come its just plain?" Gokudera raised an eyebrow. "He's right, there's nothing there. We each have symbols but yours doesnt?" Tsuna was confused, how come she had a ring with no symbol? He tried guessing what that would mean...'is it..?!'

Reborn kicked his head from behind. "ITE!" The boy cried out, holding his head where Reborn kicked him. "Juudaime!" Gokudera cried out for his boss. "Stupid-Tsuna, it's not invisibility," Reborn sighed at his student's idiocy. Meru shook her head. "Is that what you thought? seriously.." She sighed. Some group she was working with.

"It's Shadows. You can't see anything because its supposed to be just plain and dark, like a shadow." Meru brought her hand up to her face as she stared at her ring. "Shadows?" They all questioned. "The shadow that hides anything in its darkness, hiding it from danger and life at the same time." Reborn stated aloud. Meru nodded along and bit her lip. "I have the sun flame too.." Meru looked away from them. Reborn frowned slightly, he didnt like the reason why she had a sun flame along with the shadow flame.

"What does the sun ring look like? Nii-San already holds the Sun ring." Tsuna scratched his cheek, referring to Ryohei. Meru didn't turn to look at them as she spoke. "It's just a ring with a little yellow gem in it." (Nothing like a Mare ring. Just a little circle gem thing)

"the Shadow ring is the one that has an official Vongola ring for it. I need both flames though," Meru looked at the wall with half lidded eyes. She didn't like this topic very much. "Eh? Why do you need both?" Tsuna furrowed his brows in confusion.

Reborn spoke up so Meru wouldn't have to. He knew she didn't want to talk about it but Tsuna needed to know so he was lenient this one time. "The active factor of the Shadow flame is that it absorbs the life force of any live thing it touches, so if an enemy were to be hit by shadow flames, they lose their life or energy depending on how badly they were hit. If someone were to be scratched by something covered in shadow flames, they'd lose a little energy but if they were impaled with a sword covered in shadow flames, then..." Reborn explained to them but Meru finished his sentence. "They would lose all of their energy and die. It will just suck the life out of them." she fisted her the bottom of her skirt and shut her eyes.

It was nice that Reborn wanted to help her but she needed to do this on her own. "So naturally, since I can emit shadow flames, it takes my energy too." Meru didn't want to look at their faces. "What?!" Tsuna was taken back. Her own flame was practically _killing _her. Yamamoto ran up to her and grabbed her gently. "Meru! Are you serious?" He asked her, shaking her a little bit. "That's why it's so rare, not many are fit for a shadow flame." Reborn stated solemnly.

"No way..." Tsuna dropped to the ground. Who knew there was such a scary thing? And she says she can't beat him or Xanxus but he was more worried about her. What was going to be of her? What happens when she uses too much shadow flames? All of these frightening questions were running through everyone's mind.

"But I also have a sun flame which helps me rejuvenate my energy! So it's important that I have two and these two flames." Meru tried sounding happy and fine for them but it didn't work. Yamamoto kept his hold on her but he didn't say a word. His cousin was _dying slowly_ for fucks sake and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

As if reading Yamamoto's mind, Reborn told them another thing. "As long as she doesn't use her shadow flames in any way, she'll be fine."

Meru finally decided to look at them and found Yamamoto staring at her with dead worried eyes. "He's right and I haven't used my flame more than once so I'm alright." She smiled weakly at everyone. Tsuna felt even worse after finding out about her flames. She can't be fighting with them like that.

Before anyone else said anything, the door opened and came in Yamamoto's dad and Meru's parents. "Oh my we have guests, are these friends of yours Meru? Takeshi?" A beautiful lady in her early 30's asked them, presumably Meru's mother. "U-uh yes, and they were about to leave." Meru smiled at the adults and ushered Tsuna and Gokudera to the front door. "Eh?" "Oi! Don't push me!"

She smiled apologetically at the two and whispered to them," we'll talk about this some other time okay? We've discussed enough for today." She held her hands together and begged them. "A-alright then..." Tsuna nodded. Gokudera clicked his tongue and looked away. Tsuna then noted something different about Meru. "A-ano Meru-San?" "what is it Tsuna-kun?" She tilted her head slightly. "You seem different than this morning. You're acting kind of err...normal? No offense!" He quickly added hoping he didn't offend her.

"It took you this long to notice? But yeah, I know. I act very strange don't I? I'll also talk about other things about myself another time. So good bye!" She grinned at them and closed the door. Tsuna could tell she was giving fake smiles and grins though.

"I have a bad feeling about Meru-San..." Tsuna added as he walked with Gokudera back to his home. "I do too, she's a dangerous person Juudaime, you should stay away from her." He growled. Tsuna frowned and shook his head. "That's not it, I'm worried about her and Yamamoto. This is incredibly dangerous for Meru-San! It's endangering her life! And how does Yamamoto feel about his cousin being involved with the mafia and also her flame...it's..." Tsuna trailed off, not being able to say it. Gokudera understood and stared at his friend/boss. "Juudaime..."

* * *

"Nooo!" Meru cried, clinging onto the door. Yamamoto was trying to pull her off of the door because it was time for them to go to school. "C'mon Meru, we're gonna be late and if we're late we have to face Hibari," Yamamoto tiredly grinned at her, trying his best to pull her off. That was the reason why she refused to go, she didn't want to see the devil.

But if they were going to be forced to face him if they were late, she had no choice but to go now. "...fine..." She frowned as she let go and Yamamoto put her on her feet. "That's the spirit! Lets go then!" Yamamoto turned and started walking with Meru beside him. She peeked up at him after a few minutes because they've been walking in silence. He had a smile on his face but she knew he was obviously upset with her.

It's not like she can control what flame she had and how she fought in the mafia. She's already so far deep in with this mafia and ring stuff it's not even funny, though it never was.

She snapped out of her thoughts as the school gates came into view. She wanted to avoid the prefect as much as she could so she grabbed Yamamoto's hand and ran towards the gate. "Meru?" Yamamoto questioned as he ran with her. "We can't be late can we?" She shouted, still running. "Haha, you must really want to get to class!" He laughed, clueless about her intentions. 'No but if you see it that way then so be it' Meru rolled her eyes.

They made it pass to class on time and she sighed in relief. No death biting today! Or at least not yet. But she was safe for now. She was about to enter class after Yamamoto but a bullet was shot where she was about to step, making her stumble back. Her head turned in the direction where the bullet came from and saw Reborn smiling at her, smoke coming from his gun.

"Reborn? Not now, I'm gonna be late for class!" Meru glared at the baby before trying to enter class again, only to be shot at again. Meru glared daggers at the baby and tried again. And another bullet shot again. She grunted angrily and turned to him. "Reborn! What the hell?!" She grinded her teeth, frustrated with the smiling baby. 'Is he purposely trying to make me late?' she ignored the baby and tried at the door again, when the bell rang.

She froze, now she was late. And it was all Reborn's fault. "What the FUCK Reborn?!" She yelled. Reborn didnt say a word and shot a few more bullets at her, making her step back a few steps. If only she could go forward when dodging the damn bullets! 'Ugh, just gotta get to the door!' Meru screamed in her mind. She was about to reach for it hoping another bullet wasn't aimed at her until a metal tonfa slammed against the door, keeping it from opening. Her blood ran cold and she paled, recognizing who it was. 'The only person who uses tonfas...' Meru turned her head around slowly and saw the one and only Hibari glaring harshly at her.

"Herbivore, you're late. I'll bite you to death," he used his other tonfa and hit her in the stomach. She grabbed it before it hit her but there was certainly going to be a bruise on her hands now. 'At least I stopped it from hitting my stomach' she inwardly cheered weakly. "I-I was about to enter class just now!" she smiled weakly at him, hoping that she would just receive detention and he would leave. But most people weren't that lucky, not with Hibari around.

He used his tonfa that blocked the door and swung it so it would hit her head but she ducked. "Eek!" She squeaked as she ducked and tried to kick Hibari but he jumped away before she touched him. 'Good, he's not so close anymore' Meru blushed slightly, remembering what happened before. She slapped her face trying to get rid of the thought. 'No! Nows not the time for that!' her eyes shot open to see Hibari running towards her with his tonfas.

She didn't have her tennis racket with her so she couldn't block any of his attacks. "Meru," Reborn called her. Meru sweat dropped, forgetting he was there. 'oh yeah, he's here...wait, he's the reason why I'm late and why I have to fight this pyscho!' "grr, Reborn!" she growled, mad at him. "Where's you're weapon?" He smirked at her.

Her eyes widened, realizing she had her weapon that wasn't a racket. She had received her own weapon during training. But she couldn't exactly use it now. "I-I can't use it!" she cried out, dodging another attack from Hibari. "H-hibari-kun! C-can we talk this out?" She smiled at him, dodging another attack. "I'll punish you Herbivore," is what he replied. 'Okay guess not..'

Hibari aimed at her stomach again and she reached out to grab it but he used his other arm to hit her in the jaw. She cried out as she fell. Her jaw was throbbing with pain as she stared at him through one eye. 'So it was a decoy?' She cursed herself for letting her guard down. She got up ignoring the pain in her jaw and stood up, staggering a bit.

He moved to hit her again but she flipped backwards, trying to get away from him and ended up landing beside Reborn. "Meru," he called her name sternly. "Ugh, fine!" Meru gave in to his call as she grabbed something out from her bag. A chain wrapped around her hand and something heavy hung from the chain.

Hibari's eyes narrowed at the item she was holding and charged towards her," such items are against the rule herbivore," he aimed for her shoulder but she blocked it with her weapon, she released the chain so she could use it to whip Hibari with it. He jumped away after pushing against her machete.

Her weapon was black machete with a chain attached to the end. Meru was glad that the hallway was big as she held onto the chain and started swinging the machete around. 'Oh Tsuna-kun's reaction if he saw this, priceless.' Meru smiled mentally, having to hold in her giggles.

Her attention was directed back to Hibari in front of her, with her swinging this around, it was going to be difficult getting close to her. Hibari smirked and ran towards her, not bothered by the swinging machete. Meru frowned upon this, 'this is dangerous...what is he planning.'

Her eyes widened as something flew towards her. 'He threw his tonfa at it?!' She was...she couldn't even explain it. It was simply a what-the-fuck moment for her. She was so focused on repelling the tonfa that she didn't notice Hibari jump over her swinging machete. The tonfa that she was about to block was grabbed instead. She quickly swung the machete away as she grabbed the flying tonfa and threw it at Hibari, this obviously wasn't going to do it alone so she swung her machete at him as an addition. Hibari's eyes widened a fraction at how fast she worked but he grabbed _his _tonfa that she threw back at him and deflected the machete with his other arm.

Meru was seriously impressed by this guy. 'Aw man, another guy I won't be able to beat?' She whined. She retracted the machete and jumped back. Reborn stood beside her with his gun out and he smirked. Meru's eyes twitched, 'what is this twerp planning?'

"Hibari," Reborn called out. Hibari directed his attention from Meru to Reborn, instantly recognizing him. "Baby," he acknowledged him. "I have a proposal for you," Reborn smiled at him, ignoring Meru's questioning stare. Hibari's silence was taken as a token of interest with this 'proposal'. Reborn's smile grew wider as he stared up at the prefect.

"Meru wants to join the Discipline Committee,"

* * *

:0 Reborn! Hehe Cliff Hangy? I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I have too much stuff going through my mind right now, that's how I was able to make a chapter bigger than any other chapter I've written...yeah... I'm honestly shocked with myself :o. I'll try to update soon :) I'm glad people read this ~


	3. Chapter 3

Recap:

_"Hibari," Reborn called out. Hibari directed his attention from Meru to Reborn, instantly recognizing him. "Baby," he acknowledged him. "I have a proposal for you," Reborn smiled at him, ignoring Meru's questioning stare. Hibari's silence was taken as a token of interest with this 'proposal'. Reborn's smile grew wider as he stared up at the prefect._

_"Meru wants to join the Disciplinary Committee,"_

* * *

Hibari lowered his tonfas slightly while Meru screeched at Reborn, not caring if she was disturbing classes. "What?! When did I ever say that?!" Meru looked at the baby with wide eyes. 'He's out of his mind!' She comically pulled on her hair. Hibari answered immediately. "No."

Reborn smirked, knowing he would say that. "If you accept her into the committee then I'll owe you." Reborn ignored Meru's reaction to this complete set up. Hibari didn't reject him right away this time, he thought that maybe he could get another fight with Reborn to make up for the first time. "Fine, you start today Herbivore," Hibari put his tonfas away and turned to walk away, leaving Meru with Reborn.

When he was out of ear shot, Meru glared at Reborn. "What the fuck are you pulling!" She hissed at him. Reborn walked up to the wall where a little compartment opened and he stepped inside. It was another of his little 'hideouts' inside the school. "It's great sparring practice and you need the time to make bonds with all the guardians. Since Hibari is the hardest to bond with, you'll start with him first." Reborn sat on a little chair and made himself comfortable.

"I'm going to be killed! I may be skilled and all but this guy is dangerous! As if I can create bonds with him, the only bond between us is our weapons clashing!" Meru cried, feeling sorry for herself. 'Its only my second day at school and all of this crazy stuff is happening... Damnit all!'

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get going! I'm sure you don't want to be bitten to death on your first day on the job." Reborn read her mind and shot a bullet at her, which she dodged. "I don't want the job!" Meru shouted at him but he already disappeared, the opening had closed and Reborn was gone. "Urgh! What do I do.." Meru dropped to the ground and sighed tiredly.

* * *

She stood in front of the door nervously, wondering if she should really do this. It seems like a really bad idea to her but she has no choice if a demon and an assassinating baby was going to be on her ass if she doesn't go through with it.

She breathed in a huge amount of air and released it, hoping to calm her nerves. She knocked on the door thrice and waited until she heard a quiet 'enter'. She slid the door open with slightly shaking fingers and entered. She stopped shortly in front of the door she closed behind her and her eye met with the sight of Hibari relaxing at a desk she assumed to be his and a guy with Elvis-like hair.

The Elvis man stared at her curiously as she walked up to Hibari's desk. Meru crossed her arms over her chest and she stared down at the uncaring prefect. "Well? Not gonna welcome you're new member?" Meru scoffed.'Though it doesn't look like you're the type to do that,' she rolled her eyes at the thought. Hibari welcoming new members? She couldn't imagine it and she's only been at school for not even two full days. She barely knew the guy but he sure gave a clear impression.

Hibari opened his eyes and glared at her, then glanced at the other guy in the room with then. "Kusakabe, give her the book and explain her job within the committee." Hibari instructed as he stood up and left the room, leaving Meru with the guy called Kusakabe. Meru narrowed her eyes at this unwanted job and she sighed. She stayed like that until a cough came from behind her, asking for attention. She turned around and scratched her cheek. 'I forgot he was there...'

The Elvis guy smiled lightly at her and offered his hand. "Welcome to the committee, I'm Kusakabe, vice-head.. I'm surprised we have a new recruit." He welcomed her kindly. He was actually surprised that they had a recruit that was a girl but he wouldn't voice it. Their group was made up of all guys so it was new to have a female involved. Meru shook his politely and smiled weakly. "I am too." 'Atleast he's nice' she mused.

"I'm Meru by the way," she introduced herself to which he responded to. "You must be the foreign transfer student," He pointed out, recognizing that name traveling through the school like wildfire. "How does everyone seem to know me as the transfer student?" She thought aloud. He chuckled at her. "You're foreign, a transfer student, you beat the best tennis player at school causing a crowd, and you fought with Kyoya-San. News travels fast you know."

"Ah..." She nodded in understanding. 'I played against the best tennis player here?' she thought to herself confused. 'Must've been when I was excited.' She came to a conclusion. She honestly didn't remember everything that happened before she turned 'normal'.

"Well, what do I do vice-head?" Meru held her hands behind her back as she rocked forward and back slightly. Kusakabe seems to be a nice guy for someone who disciplines students. "First off, you need to read this," Kusakabe pulled out a thick book holding every single rule in the school. Meru was baffled as she stuck her hands out and grabbed the thing. 'Its as big as my bag!' She inwardly cried. She had to read all of this? This was more of disciplining the members, not students.

"And after you know all the rules, we'll send you out to patrol and all you need to do is report back to Kyoya-san what happened during your patrol. The days you aren't patrolling, you'll possibly be doing some paperwork Kyoya-San needs you to do. Sound simple enough?" He explained to her while giving her an armband that shows she's in the Disciplinary Committee. She took the armband and nodded. "Yeah, thanks. It'll take a while to read AND memorize this though," she motioned to the book in her hands.

He grinned sheepishly. "It won't take that long, you'll find out that you already know most of the rules. A lot of things go without saying right? Kyoya-San expects you to start patrolling tomorrow so memorize it all tonight." He looked at her sympathetically.

"Tonight?!" She screeched, shocked with the lack of time. Kusakabe flinched at the volume and nodded. Meru sighed, defeated. What kind of group was this? What kind of monster was Hibari? It was impossible to read a thick book like THAT in just a day. "Well better get started on it right away if I want to finish it today." Meru frowned at the book. He gave her a look bidding her good luck.

She was about to leave until Kusakabe called her back. "I forgot to tell you, the armband shows that you belong in the committee so you can use it as a pass for being late or absent for class. You also have access to part of the school, you just need to ask someone to open a door for you and it's done. The more important rooms however, you need to ask Kyoya-San for a key,"he informed her. She perched up after hearing she could be late to class without getting into trouble. She smiled at him and waved him goodbye. "Thanks for the info, bye Kusakabe-kun!" She half shouted as she left.

Meru nearly skipped back to class, feeling happy about the perks of being in the Discipline Committee. She could skip class whenever! But then that'd lead to work in the office with Hibari so she couldn't do that. But it was fine to be late whenever, surely she couldn't get on trouble then. Meru turned the corner and almost bumped into someone but she stopped before she collided with them. It was a group of 3 girls wandering the halls. Their uniforms were untucked and their skirts were too short. They also had tons of accessories and a huge amount of makeup on. Was that fake hair?

The girl in the middle stopped and stared at Meru, making her feel a bit uncomfortable under her stare. Then she suddenly snapped her fingers with a shocked face. "It's the transfer student!" She shouted at her two friends. Meru smiled weakly and stepped back, not able to stand the volume of her annoying voice. The other two made disgusting faces. "The one who beat Matoki?" "And is all over Yamamoto-kun?" They asked her. Meru then assumed the girl in the middle was the 'leader' of the group.

"This is her!" The girl in the middle threw a nasty look at Meru. Meru frowned at them and noticed that they were breaking uniform rules and they were skipping class. She didn't read the book yet but she already knew some of the rules. Looks like she would enforce it on them, it'd be good to start on her job. Too bad they bumped into her right before she was going to pin her armband on her sleeve so they don't know who they are messing with.

"Is there a problem girls? You should be in class right about now." Meru crossed her arms and glared at them, making the two on the sides falter a bit. Her glare wasn't Hibari-scary but it was scary. The girl in the middle however, didn't flinch. 'She thinks she's so mighty, I hate girls like these,' Meru silently sneered at her. "Yeah, who the hell do you think you are trying to flirt with my Yamamoto-kun?" She spat in Meru's face, earning a look of disgust from the teal-eyed girl. 'But we're cousins..' Meru thought to herself. Looks like some news didn't travel as much as the others did. Meru would reveal it, but maybe she could have a little fun.

"_Your_ Yamamoto-kun? Self-proclaiming doesn't make it the real thing girl." Meru smirked at her. The girl stepped back a bit in shock but recovered quickly enough. "You're hanging out with Gokudera-kun too, what are you? A slut?" The girl scoffed at Meru, while said girl was trying to hold in her giggles. 'Like Gokudera? Are you kidding me?' Her fake frown was faltering as her eyebrows shot up.

"If I'm a slut then what does that make you?" Meru mockingly smiled at her. The girl screamed in frustration and embarrassment and reach her hand out, attempting to slap Meru. Key word being attempt.

Meru caught her hand with a bored face before it came close to her face. Meru raised an eyebrow at the girl," I hope you're not trying to do what I think you are. If so, let me put this on first." Meru released her wrist when the girl tried pulling it away roughly and Meru reached into her pocket, taking out the armband. Three pair of eyes widened as she pinned in on her sleeve, smiling at it as if proud. Meru turned back to the girls with a smug smile on her face. "Alright, continue." Her eyes piercing into theirs, they backed away, afraid of who they just picked a fight with.

"Now before you think of running away, you all have detention for breaking uniform rules and skipping class. And some personal advice, stop trying to look like a clown, you're only in fucking middle school." Meru gave each girl a note for detention which they snatched out of her hand rudely. They balled it up and tossed it away, smirking at her. "L-like we're gonna go!" One of them said, stuttering because it was the discipline committee they were dealing with but Meru was a newbie at school so she was looked down upon.

"That's fine, I'll just give Hibari-kun a list of your names with a reason why you deserve detention. By the way, I don't think it's smart flashing your names around on a little keychain attached to the outside of your bag. Someone you don't want to know about you could do all sorts of things with information like that." Meru gave them a fake eye-smile. "Hibari-kun will surely do worse damage to you then a simple detention could do." Meru sang in a singsong tone. She knew her words struck them like lightening as they pleaded her for a new detention slip which she happily gave. Meru wasn't stupid though," Don't think you can skip out either, I'll ask whoever is watching detention for a list of everyone's name. If you're not there, say hello to Hibari-kun for me would ya?" Meru twisted a strand of hair on her finger, teasing the girls to no end. They nodded ferociously and ran back to class, scared to receive any more threats.

Meru just laughed at them, her sadistic side coming out. She loved teasing people, they are so fun to mess with. She sighed as she stopped laughing, deciding to go back to class. As she walked back to class, she looked outside the windows, enjoying the view of the school yard. It was clean and organized, unlike the other schools she's been to. There's always trash somewhere or people hanging outside to ditch class. Most likely a group of delinquents teachers are to lazy to deal with. 'Hibari-kun really does a good job cleaning the school though. Besides the whole 'Demon of Namimori Middle' thing, the school actually has a good reputation thanks to him. "The school is so nice..." She didn't notice she talked aloud, she also didn't notice that she stopped walking to enjoy the view.

Meru stood for a few seconds, admiring the school until a little sound snapped her out of deep thought. A little voice was singing'...is that the school anthem?' Meru raised an eyebrow. She never heard it before but she heard 'Namimori Middle' so it must be for the school.

Then a little yellow bird came fluttering down, it entered the open window Meru was standing at and flew around her head. She could almost squeal at how cute it was and she stuck her finger out, hoping it would land on it. Surely it did.

"Aren't you adorable?" Meru giggled at it. The bird just tilted its head and stared at her with its cute beady eyes. "Aaah~ I just want to take you with me!" Meru used her free hand to pet it gently. Then the bird open its beak and chirped a name. "Hibari! Hibari!" It flapped its wings as it did so.

Meru stopped petting it and stared at it with confusion. "Hi...bari?" She whispered. Then the realization hit her,'This is Hibari's bird?! No random bird is going to be chirping _his_ name by coincidence.' She furrowed her brows and looked at the bird with disappointing eyes. "So you already have an owner?" Meru sighed, letting the bird climb onto the window. "I need to go now, be careful okay?" She talked to it like it could've understood her. It nuzzled her hand for a few seconds before flapping its wings, flying away.

The teal-eyed girl figured it'd be best to return before class ends so she made her way through the halls. Once she reached her destination, Meru opened the door. All eyes turned to her and she smiled at the teacher. "You're late" he frowned at her. "It's only your second day and you're alre-" "I have a pass" Meru cut the teacher off, showing her armband. Everyone was shocked and the room was filled with silence. Everyone had the same question on their mind. 'She's in the Discplinary Committee?'

Meru flashed a smile at everyone and went to take her seat. The teacher coughed to get rid of the atmosphere and continued teaching. "Now then, take out your books and open up to page 114."

* * *

"Meru-San!" Someone called her. She looked up from packing her bag and saw Tsuna with Gokudera and her cousin. "Yeah?" She tilted her head slightly. "We never knew you signed up for the Disciplinary Committee!" Tsuna stared at her in slight awe and pity. She was with Hibari after all.

"Uh, yeah. Reborn set me up." She sighed defeatedly, her shoulders slumping. Tsuna had a blank face. 'He would!' He shouted in his mind. "I can't do anything about it, if I quit, Reborn will be pointing that damn gun at me every time I turn the corner. Besides, it's not that bad. I can beat up people and use this armband to my advantage, it's pretty awesome if you think about it!" Meru smiled mischievously. Tsuna sweat dropped and backed away from her a step. 'She LIKES beating people up?!'

Meru turned back to her bag while talking. "Besides the fact that I'm working with a demon, there aren't any qualms about the Disciplinary Committee. Kusakabe-kun seems really nice too!" She pushed her books it making sure to hide the machete and zipped her bag up, slinging it over her shoulder. "Well I'm going to the rooftop to read, bring lunch for me Take-kun!" Meru waved at them before leaving.

Yamamoto laughed while Gokudera scowled and Tsuna smiled lightly, waving back. Tsuna dropped his hand and turned to his two close friends. "Meru-San is amazing, she can survive being with Hibari!" Tsuna praised her lightly, making Gokudera jealous. "Oh please!" The white haired male scoffed. "So what if she can survive being in the same room with him? I can beat him for sure!" Gokudera's hands were clenched into fists to emphasize his point.

Yamamoto laughed and placed his hands behind his head. "Now now, no need to get so worked up." He smiled brightly. Gokudera glared at him and scowled. "Shut up baseball idiot!" Tsuna waved his hands around frantically. "A-ah calm down!"

* * *

Meru walked up the stairs that lead to the roof. She would have gone to the library to read but it'll take a while to get there and you can't bring food in there and there was no other quiet place to read. She reached the top of the stairs and opened the door, covering her eyes as the sunlight blinded her. Meru placed her bag down against the wall and walked dangerously close to the edge of the roof. She gasped and smiled brightly, finding the view to be beautiful. Too caught up in the view, she failed to notice a presence behind her. "Herbivore" A deep voice came from behind her.

Meru's eyes widened and she turned around quickly. "Dear god you scared me!" She placed a hand over her chest where she felt her racing heartbeat. "Students are not allowed to be up here." He narrowed his eyes at her, ignoring whatever she just said. Meru stared at him incredulously. "Why? And you're here aren't you?" She crossed her arms over her chest.

Hibari didn't answer her as he glared at her. 'Hah! Got him!' Meru cheered inwardly. She smiled until he whipped out his tonfas, making her smile turn into a frown. She gritted her teeth in frustration. 'So this is how it's gonna go? whats up with him?!'

Just a reminder, she is still dangerously close to the edge. So if she backs up at all, she'll be Humpty Dumpty who had a great fall. She was sure Hibari was aware of that too so she partially doubted he would attack her. But this was Hibari, so there's no telling what could happen. "H-Hibari-kun, I just came up here to get a start on the rule book!" Meru smiled weakly at him, deciding that getting bitten to death in this situation would be unfavorable. She sighed when she didn't get a response from him.'typical' she sneered. Meru had to think quick so she did a crazy thing, she stepped on the very edge of the roof. One more inch then she could fall. She didn't fail to notice how Hibari paused for a second.

"Hit me and I'll fall." Meru gulped nervously, hoping her plan would work. There's no way he's gonna put a student in danger like this, even if he does hate everyone. Too bad it didn't work the way she hoped it would. Without a single care, Hibari swiped at her. She couldn't dodge and ended up slipping, making her way down to the ground. Meru's eyes widened in shock, confusion, and fear. 'This is not happening!' She screamed in her mind, not able to talk at all. All she could do with her vocals was to scream and that she did. She may have been training to be in the mafia but this is not something she can evade, seeing that she had nothing on her( her bag was on the roof damnmit! Not like it held anything useful anyway, her machete wouldn't be of any use in this situation) and there was nothing to grab on. Just air.

She just prepared herself for the impact and shut her eyes. 'Second day? Really?!' She was having the best Japanese school experience so far. Note sarcasm. But now wasn't the time for that, she was going to become...she didn't want to even think about it.

Meru prayed for the best that she wouldn't die. A fair amount of broken bones sounded more desirable than death at the moment so she hoped she was lucky. She could tell she was getting really close to the ground now. 'Sorry Take-kun, you're gonna be worried sick...' She thought about her favorite family member. She didn't want this to happen, it must be horrible for him to go through all this mafia stuff. Now he has to deal with her.

'Damnit all!' Meru cursed in her mind. 'This is how life goes though...what a shame.' She felt like raging but that is something she can't do like this. So she stopped thinking and waited.

And waited. 'Still waiting. Uh...waiting? What the fuck?' She was confused. Why hasn't she felt pain spread like wildfire and passed out yet? Then Meru noticed the change in direction she was going in. Her eyes shot open and they met the eyes of Tsuna. "Tsuna-kun?!" Meru shouted, relieved and surprised. "You... You saved me.." Meru stared at him in awe. 'So this is Tsuna in Hyper Dying Will Mode.' she just kept staring at him, amazed and shocked. Tsuna safely landed on the ground while holding Meru and he placed her down. As soon as she was able to stand, she hugged him. "Thank you Tsuna-kun," she thanked him, her body slightly shaking. She was still scared because it had been so nerve wrecking and she was sure he felt it. The flame on his head faded out and he turned back to his caring, wimpy side. "Are you alright?" He asked her with worried eyes, hesitantly returning the hug. She released him from the hug and nodded dully. "Somewhat...I never thought you would be the one to save me. You look like a little brother I need to protect but here we are..." Meru slightly chuckled. She couldn't laugh at all, everything just scared her and happened so fast.

Reborn came up out of nowhere and jumped on Tsuna's head. "He is the boss, he needs to protect everyone in his family." The baby smiled. Meru smiled halfheartedly at them though her words were spoken in truth. "A very admirable boss indeed. Thank you, a lot." Her legs grew weak and she fell to the ground on her knees but she didn't care, she was tired. She didn't know you could get tired from falling but she was tired, all of the fear in her being just made her collapse as a result. "Meru-San!" Tsuna kneeled down to her level but didn't touch her, afraid that he might make her feel more uncomfortable than she already is.

"I-I'm fine..." She said but he didn't seem convinced, she didn't even have the power to smile at him to reassure him she was fine. "You're lucky Tsuna and them arrived at the roof just when you fell." Reborn was standing before her knees, looking up at her. "What happened? Don't tell me Hibari-San pushed you off?" Tsuna glanced at her with scared and worried eyes. She smiled meekly at him. "Yeah, something along those lines." She answered, still shaking. "No way...that's totally dangerous!" He squeaked.

"Juudaime!" "Meru!" Said teenagers turned their heads to see Yamamoto and Gokudera running towards them. "Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto." Tsuna called to them, noticing that they were carrying his and Meru's bags. "Take-kun...Gokudera.." Meru continued to stare at them, she couldn't do anything due to mixed feelings and her body felt it like it broke down. Before anything else, Yamamoto dropped to his knees and hugged Meru tightly. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Yamamoto pulled back but still held her with his hands. "I'm fine," she smiled at him. "I was worried ya know." He frowned slightly at her, making her eyes soften. "I know, sorry." Meru patted his head gently. "Tch, you let that guy hit you off the roof?" Gokudera scowled, not really caring about her. Tsuna turned to Gokudera and frowned disapprovingly at him. "Gokudera-kun! You can't say something like that, it's Hibari-San too!" He whispered quite loudly at him. Yamamoto decided to ignore Gokudera as he picked Meru up surprisingly. She made a little squeak when he suddenly did that.

"You can't really do anything now huh? We should get you home..." Yamamoto stared down at her, concern and care in his orbs. "What about school?"She asked. "Taking care of yourself is more important right?" He grinned at her. "Yamamoto is right, we should get you home Meru-San." Tsuna smiled at her even though she could see worry in his big eyes. His smile dropped as he was kicked in the head by a baby. "Yamamoto can take her alone, you need your education, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn glared at Tsuna, making him scared. "I can manage!" Yamamoto agreed with Reborn on taking her home by himself. "A-alright then.." Tsuna gave in.

* * *

"Takeshi-kun? Meru?" Meru's mom was greeted unexpectedly by her daughter and nephew. "Aren't you two supposed to be in school? Are you ditching?" She frowned at them. "No mom," Meru rolled her eyes. "Meru was feeling ill so I took her home." Yamamoto smiled at his aunt kindly. Her mother grew a shocked expression and ushered them in. "Oh hurry in then, just leave her in her room. You should get back to school Takeshi-kun, we can take care of her." Her mom opened the doors for them and Yamamoto placed Meru down on her bed.

"Thanks Take-kun, sorry for the trouble," Meru looked away from him. "Just start feeling better! We'll do something about Hibari so it's okay!" Yamamoto ruffled her hair and walked out, leaving for school again. "Meru what happened?" Her mom asked. "Takeshi-kun look so worried and you're never like this." 'So she noticed?' Meru's eyes connected with her mothers. "I just ate something bad and the school nurse wasn't here today." She lied through her teeth, she was quite used to it actually.

"Ah please be careful Meru, you can't let that stuff happen. And what kind of school nurse isn't at school? How irresponsible of them." Her mother nagged as she tucked Meru in and left.

Ignoring the fact that she felt tired, Meru sat up and pushed the blanket off. She could never stay still for long so she figured she'd do something else. Her eyes landed on her school bag that contained her books and her machete. "It's about time I polish Ma-chan," She whispered to herself. And yes, she named her machete Ma-chan.

Meru grabbed her bag and pulled it onto the space next to her. She zipped it open and moved her books around to grab her weapon. Before she reached her hand in, her eyes fell on the rule book she was given by Kusakabe. "..." She just stared silently at it, wondering if she should really be in the Disciplinary Committee. "I never asked for it and I certainly don't want to be in the same room with that guy" Meru glared at the book as she took it out, taking her weapon after after.

"What's wrong with him? How can he do that? I understand that he doesn't know me very well and he hates everyone from the looks of it, but you can't go around throwing people off the roof! That's attempt murder!" She ranted angrily while polishing her machete. "Who does he think he is? God who decides everyone's punishment? What's up with the 'biting to death' and 'herbivores' with him? Seriously, he thinks he's so much better and that he can do whatever he wants! What a weirdo!" She gritted her teeth and held her weapon in front of her, examining it. "Just right! Next time, I'll slice that guy if I have to.." She puffed out her cheeks and carefully placed her machete into a sheath made just for it by Leon, the lizard on Reborn's fedora.

"Now..." Meru calmed down a bit after ranting off about Hibari and reluctantly grabbed the rule book. "Do I really?" She furrowed her brows and flipped open the book. There were a whole bunch to read. She groaned and covered her face, rolling on her bed. "Don't wanna!" She whined like an elementary student. She knew she had no choice though so she grabbed her reading glasses out of her bag and flipped to the first page. "This is going to be a long night..." Meru turned her upper body to grab the wiping cloth for glasses from her case but stopped abruptly as she felt pain in her torso.

Her hands shot down to grab her wound instinctively. "Must've been where he hit me to throw me off the damn roof." She winced and sat up straight, lifting up her shirt to look at it. It wasn't bleeding or anything but there was a huge bruise that outlined a tonfa. "I should put some ointment on..." Meru slowly got off the bed and walked over to the closet where her suitcase was. Inside her suitcase was a first aid kit she carried around whenever they traveled because she knew some things involving training or the mafia would happen and incase of a minor injury like this.

"At least I wasn't hit anywhere visible, having more questions thrown at me isn't exactly what I need right now." She pulled her shirt down after applying the ointment and crawled back to bed metaphorically. "This is all better than being with Xanxus though...I'd have to be in Italy and I especially don't want to hear 'Shishishi or VOII!' all day. And be in a room where Xanxus throws shit at you..." Meru shook her head disapprovingly at the Varia. She's had plenty of encounters with them to know their nasty habits. Plus, how would she explain Italy to her parents?

'Oh I need to go to Italy to meet up with a group of high-class assassinators and work for them for the rest of my life.' She sweat dropped at how absurd it sounded. "Thanks so much Tsuna, for winning the battle of the rings! Or should I thank the ring for not accepting Xanxus?" She pondered over the battle and remembered the outcome Reborn told her. "Hmm...both!" She giggled and brought her hand up to her eye level.

"These rings.." She slipped both of her rings off of her fingers and held them in her palm. "A lot of things are gonna happen because of these...what was I pulled into?" Meru asked no one. But she often wondered what was going to happen in the future and if it was good or bad. Being in the mafia was a scary thing, you can be alive one day and dead the next. Or even worse, your family. They could disappear just because you were involved in something normal people weren't. "How unfair." she voiced in despair as she held up her Shadow ring.

Not only did she have to worry about her own life while fighting and worry about her family, she had her flame to care about. "If I'm not careful with my power, I'll end up killing myself. Whats up with that? That's not fair..." She pulled a pillow onto her face a screamed into it, pulling her face away after losing her breath. "I'm practically useless if I can't use my power...I nearly died just covering my machete in shadow flames." Meru shook at the memory.

Tsuna and them don't know that they can have their weapons covered in their flames to add a kick in it but Meru learned when she was in her early stages of training. She had lit her shadow ring before without knowing it while she was training with her machete. It was totally accidental but Meru had been thinking of her family she needed to protect and her shadow ring started emitting shadow flames. As it emitted flames, her machete was covered in shadow flames not long after and she didn't know what was going on. Her machete sliced a tree and the whole thing just...withered. A huge tree withered due to a small machete covered in shadow flames.

Then she remembered she felt her energy decreasing rapidly but she didn't know what to do until Reborn appeared.

_"Meru, If you don't hurry and do something, you'll die." The baby appeared before her, who was kneeling on the floor. She was panting hard and could barely stand. "W-what am I s-supposed to do?" She stared at him through pleading eyes, desperate for help. "It's because you are so scared that you cannot think straight and calm down. Once you calm down, you can control your flames and stop it from emitting any longer." With that, he held the string of a Leon balloon and floated away. 'He's leaving me?!' She half glared at him. _

_"But I guess I do need to calm down, that's a hard thing to do though when your dying." She winced as she fell to the floor, laying on her back. "If I don't do this fast, I'll die for sure. I already lost so much of my life." Meru reminded herself, trying to calm down. She emptied her mind and slowed her breathing, relaxing her muscles. The only thing she needed to do was concentrate only on her flame, her power. Her eyes closed as she thought of her family, how they needed her so she couldn't die here. But the flame didn't go away. Meru thought over reasons why her flame lit in the first place. It wasn't because she wanted to protect her family that was for sure, this flame was to take lives. Surely the reason wasn't as good and noble as a resolve should be. _

_'What was I thinking about when it happened? Protecting family...keep them away from those who hurt them...be happy with them...' she tried to recall her feelings but it was difficult to remember since they disappeared when she received shock due to shadow ring suddenly spewing flames all over her machete. _

_"Wait...keep them away from those who hurt them...I-I don't want anyone to hurt my family, I'd be so sad and lonely...and hate them for it..." She felt like she was getting on to something. "...I'll protect the ones I love no matter what so there's no way bad guys can get them!" She tried to convince herself but the doubts she had didn't help since she was only halfway through with training._

_"hey.." A voice whispered. Her eyes shot open and she looked around, which was a hard feat since her life was still on the line here, but found no one. "Was I imagining it?" She thought aloud. "No, I'm speaking to you." She heard the same voice in her head again. "Who are you?" Meru asked hesitantly. She couldn't afford to be distracted right now. _

_"I'm the negative feelings that reside within you. The hatred that runs through you whenever you get riled up. And I control the feelings that run your shadow flames." It spoke again. "My hatred...then, can you stop the flames?!" She asked with hope. The voice giggled and answered," that depends. What do you want me to do for you?" It spoke ominously. Meru picked up the tone and spoke warily. "What d-do you mean? I asked f-for the flames to s-stop emitting." She winced, the flames were still going and she was about to faint, she could tell. _

_"Alright then. But you must know, be careful in the future or you'll be consumed by your feelings, by me." The voice giggled again and it disappeared as the shadow flames stopped. Meru was breathing very hard and she could barely keep her eyes open. Soon, she slipped into darkness. _

Meru's hand closed over the rings and she sighed. "That voice...it still disturbs me up til this day. I wonder what it meant, 'be careful or you'll be consumed'. Does it mean not to use the shadow flames or I'll die? I already know that..." She mumbled. Meru shrugged it off since she knew she was never going to use her shadow flames again no matter what.

She placed the rings on the desk in the room and pushed her glasses up to her eyes. "Now to start reading the damn book," she groaned.

* * *

"Meru! A friend wants to see you!" She heard her mother shout her name after 3 hours she started reading. Meru finished the last line she was reading and placed a bookmark in the book, getting up to meet this 'friend'. "Coming!" She called out, letting them know she was able.

"Who is it?" Meru peeked over her mother's shoulder since they were the same height and found a blushing Tsuna, Gokudera, and Kyoko. Yamamoto was standing by the open door, taking his shoes off. "School's already over?" Meru tilted her head and tried to recall the time she arrived at home.

"I'll go make some tea and snacks for you all," Meru's mother smiled kindly at them and skipped away into the kitchen. Meru watched her with blank eyes. "Faker." She whispered but everyone heard it. Tsuna awkwardly laughed while Gokudera didn't seem to care and Kyoko just smiled. "Well don't just stand there, come in!" Meru smiled at them and moved to let them inside.

"Sorry for the intrusion," Tsuna said, being mannerful. "Move" Gokudera scowled at her and followed Tsuna into the house. Kyoko bowed to them and smiled brightly. "Excuse the intrusion."

Meru smiled back at her and waved her hands. "Not at all! Come on, lets go to the living room." She lead them to the living room where her mother had already laid out the snacks. "Make yourselves comfortable" Yamamoto grinned at everyone, showing some hospitality.

Meru didn't want to sit so she walked behind Yamamoto and threw her arms over his shoulders, leaning against him but not hugging him. "So what brought you guys here?" Meru asked as she pointed to a cookie on the table in front of everyone and Yamamoto picked one up for her, giving it to her.

"We wanted to check up on you to see if you were alright. Kyoko-chan was also worried about you since you didn't appear in class after lunch." Tsuna spoke before taking taking a sip of the tea Meru's mom made. He had to admit, it was very good.

"Aww, thanks Tsuna-kun, Kyoko-chan. Why is Gokudera here?" Meru smiled kindly at the first two but sneered at the last. "You don't give a damn about me, that's for sure. You sick puppy." Meru turned her head away after insulting the bomberman, earning a glares and vulgar insults from him.

"I don't think Tsuna-kun likes hearing you say all that stuff Gokudera," Meru sang in a singsong voice and pointed to another cookie which Yamamoto gave her. Gokudera immediately whipped his head to see if it was true and Tsuna was sitting there, trying to block out all of the profanity his innocent ears were hearing. Kyoko wasn't looking so comfortable either. "Juudaime! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I should have paid more attention to you than that stupid wench! I'm sorry!" Gokudera got on his knees and was currently banging his head into the ground. 'Stupid wench?' Meru's vein popped out and she slammed her hands down on Yamamoto's shoulders, making him wince.

"Im stupid? Ha! Says the guy who's head butting the floor, moronic piece of trash!" She walked over to him and kicked him, sending him flying towards the wall and knocking him unconscious. "There! Now he won't bother anyone!" Meru smiled like nothing happened. "G-Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna called out to his friend, worried about him. "Its fine, he won't die." Meru was back with Yamamoto, leaning on him and pointing to sweets she wanted, which he happily gave her. Tsuna sweat dropped and sighed. 'Thats not the problem here...'

Kyoko giggled at Meru and took out notes from her bag. "Meru-chan, I wrote down notes from today's classes that you missed and here's homework too." She met Meru halfway and the teal-eyed girl thanked her. "Thank you so much Kyoko-chan! Sorry you did this for me." Meru looked down guiltily but Kyoko waved it off. "It's fine, I wanted to do it for you so you wouldn't fall behind." Kyoko smiled at her genuinely and Meru hugged her.

Meru felt a stare on them and she turned to see Tsuna staring at them with a small blush on his face. She realized why he was blushing and she smiled slyly at him. "Did you have fun walking here Tsuna?" Meru teased him. The little brunette blushed more and stuttered. "W-what are y-you t-talking about M-Meru-San?"

Said girl skipped over to Tsuna and whispered in his ear. "You enjoyed the walk with Kyoko-chan didn't you? Well now you can walk her home, just the two of you!" She winked at him.

Before he could question, Meru spoke to Kyoko. "Well it's getting late and I think you guys should start heading home, right?" "Ah! I still have to do some grocery shopping on the way home. Thank you for having us over Yamamoto-San, Meru-chan." Kyoko smiled at them. " No problem!" Yamamoto smiled back and Meru grabbed Tsuna's arm, dragging him over to Kyoko. "Since it's dangerous for a girl to walk alone, Tsuna will be accompanying you!" She pushed him towards her and he stumbled forward, catching himself before crashing into Kyoko.

"Really? Thank you so much Tsuna-kun!" Kyoko gave him an eye smile, making the boy blush fierociously. "A-ah but what about Gokudera-kun?" he turned his attention to the unconscious boy slouching against the wall. 'Im surprised the wall didnt break but he fell unconscious from just a kick...' Tsuna snuck a glance at Meru, realizing how scary she could be.

"I'll call Reborn to do something about him, it's fine!" Meru waved them off. "You should worry about yourselves. Protect Kyoko-chan, Kay Tsuna?" Meru smiled innocently, totally teasing him. "Bye Meru-chan, Yamamoto-San! Thank your mom for the tea and snacks for us Meru-chan!" Kyoko waved at them as they walked away while Tsuna was in Lala Land, thinking about walking with Kyoko alone. "That boy.." Meru shook her head playfully.

"We should clean up," Meru turned to her cousin who nodded. They walked into the living room just to see Gokudera waking up. "Ugh...what the hell." He rubbed the back of his head, massaging the bruise that formed there. " oh, you're still alive." Meru spoke in a monotone voice. "Grr...what the hell woman!" He glared at her. "That's your fault," she rolled her eyes unaffected by his glare. "Damn you...wait, where's Juudaime?!" Gokudera searched everywhere before pointing an accusing finger at her. "What did you do to him?!" He shouted at her, already grabbing his dynamite.

"I sent him off on a date with Kyoko-chan, calm down hothead." She stuffed a cookie in her mouth before taking the plate and placing it in the kitchen. Yamamoto was in the kitchen washing the cups so he didn't know what was going on. "I have to be there! What if something happens to him and I'm not there? Juudaime, I'm coming!" He shot up and ran for the door but Meru tripped him making him fall on his stomach, and sat on his back. "You disturb their date and I'll disturb your sleep, forever." She threatened him. "Damnit crazy woman! Get off of me!" He squirmed, trying to throw her off. "Fat ass!" He yelled, hitting a nerve. A vein popped out on her forehead and she stood up. Not before placing one of his own dynamite sticks right in front of his face, lit.

He was too slow and it blew up in his face. Meru had stole it from his back pockets without him noticing and she just simply gave it back to him. " You should really store those in a better place." Meru opened the door to let the smoke out. Gokudera was trying to stand up and Meru stood in front of him, her back facing him. "Take-kun!" she called her cousin who came out of the kitchen. "Yeah?" He asked, not noticing the smoke flowing out of the room. " Throw me a cookie." She smiled at him, hiding Gokudera behind her back. At that instant, Yamamoto had a cookie in his hand, a serious look in his eyes and he threw the cookie like how he threw anything else.

Gokudera had finally gotten up and was about to yell at Meru in front of him until she ducked and he was hit in the face, falling back on the floor. "Huh? Oh sorry Gokudera! Hahaha!" Yamamoto rubbed the back of his neck and laughed. "Ah he's knocked out again." Meru stared uncaringly at the unmoving body on the floor.

* * *

"Finally done!" Meru cheered as she closed the book and took off her glasses. She checked her phone for the time and saw that it was 2 in the morning. "Wow, really?" She was shocked at how long she's been reading but yawned afterwards. Meru turned off the lamp and pulled the blanket over her, deciding to sleep right away. Because she fell asleep, she failed to notice her shadow ring slightly vibrating on the desk.


	4. Chapter 4

_Recap:"Finally done!" Meru cheered as she closed the book and took off her glasses. She checked her phone for the time and saw that it was 2 in the morning. "Wow, really?" She was shocked at how long she's been reading but yawned afterwards. Meru turned off the lamp and pulled the blanket over her, deciding to sleep right away. Because she fell asleep, she failed to notice her shadow ring slightly vibrating on the desk._

* * *

Tsuna yawned as he walked to school, he didn't get enough sleep last night since Reborn provoked Lambo into a one-sided fight and he had to clean up everything."They're so troublesome!" Tsuna complained aloud. "Good morning Juudaime!" "Morning Tsuna!" "Mornin' Tuna-kun" Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Meru met up with the young boss on their way to school.

"Ah Good morning Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto,M-Meru-San..." He greeted each of them, sweat dropping when he turned to see Yamamoto giving Meru a piggy back ride. "Are you alright Meru-San? Do you still need rest from yesterday?" Tsuna misunderstood and thought she was somehow injured from Hibari. "Nah nah...Im just really sleepy..." She yawned as if on cue and rested her forhead on Yamamoto's shoulder. "She stayed up late reading the school rule book." Yamamoto filled them in on why he was so worn out.

"Eh? No way..." Tsuna glanced at her worriedly. "She should really get rest if she was so tired, it isn't healthy to go on like that." Meru waved her hand around. "I start patrolling today, I can't stay home. And I'm fine." She climbed off her cousin's back to prove she could do on her own but had to hold Yamamoto's arm the whole way. "Tch, the weak should get out of the way." Gokudera stuck by Tsuna's side and glared at Meru. "Then why aren't you at home resting from what happened yesterday?" Meru turned around and glared back, she was not in the mood for his insults. "Why you..." He clenched his fists but said nothing, obviously Meru had won.

"Gokudera-kun, calm down. You can't fight!" Tsuna pleaded him, making him stop obediently. "Don't push yourself alright Meru-San?" Tsuna looked up at her with the cutest eyes she's seen. She couldn't help but giggled and hug him, letting go of Yamamoto's arm temporarily. "Aww anything for you cute boss!" She ruffled his hair seeing his slightly blushing face. Starting to feel the exhaustion come back, she grabbed Yamamoto's arm again and they made their way to school.

They weren't late for once but with so many people around them, everyone saw Meru latched onto Yamamoto's arm. They heard hushed whispers around them, pointing at the four. "Has no one heard that we're cousins? The whole class heard it, I thought it would've gotten to everyone by now..." Meru looked around at everyone with tired eyes. She received many glares from the female students and pleading eyes from male students. Since she was not in the right mind at the moment, she decided to have fun. She released his arm and hugged his side instead, hearing audible gasps through the crowd. Yamamoto shot a questioning glance towards her and she replied, "I'm tired Take-kun, 4 hours of sleep does things to you, you know?" She yawned and it wasn't a fake. He smiled at her and nodded, placing his arm around her shoulder. The girls were now fainting.

'How amusing, these simpletons' Meru inwardly laughed. "Herbivores," a deep voice growled, making everyone stop. 'Way to kill the mood,' Meru rolled her eyes, knowing very well who came to ruin everyone's day. "There is no PDA allowed on school grounds and you're crowding." All the students hurried into the buildings, leaving the group alone with Hibari."H-Hibari-San!" The little brunette squeaked in fear. Gokudera stood in front of Tsuna as Yamamoto barely tightened his hold on his cousin. Meru just scowled. "PDA? Take-kun is just helping me come to school, I can't be absent on the second day of the job can I?" She glanced up at the prefect and scoffed seeing his always-present glare. "A-ah! We should really be getting to class now! Bye Hibari-San!" Tsuna ran past Hibari with Gokudera and Yamamoto following him. Yamamoto still had Meru so he dragged her along too but before she could enter the building, a hand grabbed her arm not too gently.

"Eh?" She slipped out of Yamamoto's grasp, almost falling backwards but she caught herself just in time. She turned to see Hibari glaring down at her, his hand tightly wrapped around her arm. Yamamoto stopped running when Meru suddenly fell out of his arms and turned back to see her with Hibari. "Meru!" He glanced at her worriedly. She mentally cursed at Hibari and faced Yamamoto, giving him a fake smile. "I'm fine, it's probably about the committee duties. Just get to class before you're late!" Meru waved her hand, trying to dismiss his worries for her. "But-" he tried to protest but Meru cut him off. "Just go." She turned away from him, seriousness arising in her voice. Her favored cousin stared at her for another second and turned to leave. He knew she could protect herself, but he was still worried.

Meru sighed and faced Hibari, who was now walking away. She was baffled. 'He's going to keep me from going to class but just walks away? What the hell!' "H-hey!" She called out, jogging to catch up with him. "What did you need me for?" She trailed behind him a few feet away, slightly pouting. He didn't so much as glance at her and just continued walking . "You start patrolling today. Send in a report after your finished. If I see any herbivores fooling around and breaking rules, I'll bite all of you." He walked away, leaving Meru standing there. She never realized when she stopped walking but that doesn't matter. Her eye twitched and she face palmed. "Damn it Reborn, look what you got me into." She muttered under her breath, sighing heavily afterwards.

"At least I can take my frustration out on rule-breakers. That'll be fun.." Her mouth was in a tight line as she pinned her armband to her sleeve. "Hmm.." She placed a finger on her chin, pondering over what she should do if it resorts to violence. Meru always preferred to talk it out but if it took a turn for the worse, then she would have no choice. "Hand combat is out of the question, I can only work with a weapon. Tennis racket or Machete? It'd be a waste to use a sport instrument like that and the machete was made for fighting, but the machete is a bit too dangerous to use..." Her face scrunched up, trying to make a decision. "Ah!" Her mouth formed a small 'o' and she pulled out her machete. "I just need to use the back of the blade so it doesn't cut them!" Strapping it behind her thigh, she began her patrol.

* * *

The teal-eyed girl walked around the campus, half-hoping to find someone and half-hoping to not. She honestly didn't want to deal with them, it was never her intention to join this damn committee. To keep her somewhat busy, she quietly sang one of her favorites song while patrolling. Singing wouldn't hurt anyone would it?

"Lesson learned, I dont need to turn the page of  
My life goes on, so I'll rot away here  
A time machine turning back to the day would be nice

Years fly by but I'm living, 'fraid of dying  
And drawing out hopes of 'maybe somday'  
Though I know that I am to never see you again

Dont wonder why, wanna die, wanna die  
Grabbing my own hand, cursing it to hell as I sat there

Not a thing I can do might as well  
Live it up while I'm still alive and breathing"

She stopped singing, seeing 4 guys loitering around the back of the school. "No way, people do this even though Hibari is here?" She whispered to no one. "Guess I gotta deal with them myself then." She sighed and made sure her machete was strapped to her thigh properly. 'One against the wall, 2 on the floor, and one on the fence.' She observed them for a few seconds and decided to walk up to them.

"Hey guys!" She called out, seeing their heads turn towards her. 'They're smoking too! God we're only in middle school people, how stupid can you get.' Meru sneered mentally. The guys disgustingly smirked at her as she came closer and they formed a little circle around her. "What do you want with us, cutie?" One of them came to close for comfort. She laughed dully and leaned away from him, trying not to grimace. "What are you guys doing out here? Aren't you supposed to be in class?" She smiled lightly.

"Pfft, who needs class?" A guy behind Meru snickered. 'Man, no wonder these guys are stupid. My armband is flying in front of their faces. Literally!' Her eyebrows furrowed, scrutionizing how ridiculous these guys were. 'Guess I have to force em, this is really going no where and I'm not gonna settle for idle talk.' She lifted her arm and flashed the armband. "You guys do, so get to class now and I'll let you slip away with only detention afterschool."

They froze for a second before laughing. "A girl? In the Disciplinary Committee? Hibari sure is getting soft!" They chuckled, ridiculing her and the committee. She puffed out her cheeks before frowning. They were underestimating her! How rude! "And what are you gonna do? Slap us if we don't listen?" Someone pushed her, making her go back a step.

"Slap you?" She questioned, reaching behind her thigh underneath her skirt. The guys behind her was wondering what she was doing until they saw a glimpse of a blade. Meru pulled her machete out and held the hilt of it, the chain wrapped around her arm. She had no idea how it did that but she didn't care. The guys took a step back, afraid of the weapon in her hands. "What the hell?!" "She's like that damn demon with a dangerous weapon!"

"Are you gonna listen to me then? Fix your uniforms, stop smoking, and get back to class! A week of detention just for breaking those rules." She pointed the machete at one of them. "Are you kidding me?" One of them scoffed, thinking even if she had a weapon, she's still a girl. "Like we're gonna listen! Grab her!" He yelled to the other three. They did as told and attempted to seize her but she flipped the machete around, unwrapping the chain off her arm to use as a whip. Meru swung the chain around her, hitting all of their hands. "Ow!" "Damnit!" "Aw hell!" They yelled as they held their hands, trying to soothe the pain. Meru smiled and turned around to deal with the last guy but he grabbed her arms before she could. "got you" He whispered in her ears, making her squirm , trying to get out of his hold.

"Restraining the legs is very important you know," Meru peered over her shoulder, catching his confused look. Soon, he doubled over in pain, covering his groin. "Especially if you're a guy." Meru dusted her shoulders off, then picked up her weapon. "Cheap trick, yes. But no one said I couldn't do that." Meru shouted, directing it at someone who was watching her on the roof. He cocked an eyebrow, a little impressed she noticed him.

"So did I do a good job Hibari-kun?" Strapping her weapon behind her thigh again, she grinned up at Hibari which was a tad bit difficult since he was up so high. He said nothing and walked away to god-knows-where. Sighing, she leaned against the wall tiredly. Meru rubbed her eyes and yawned, the lack of sleep taking its toll on her. It didn't help that she just fought either, even if it was a small fight.

She looked around her, staring at all the unconcious bodies in front of her. She seems to be around unconcious people a lot. Stretching her arms, she started picking them up, finding it best to not leave them like that. "Better drag them to the infirmary I guess." She muttered to herself. "But am I just going to carry them one at a time? Aargh it'd be nice to have some help to save some time." Meru pouted as she slung a guys arm around her shoulder. "We'll help you Francis-San." A deep voice made said girl snap her head up. Her eyes met with the sight of Kusakabe and 2 more Elvis-look-alikes. "Really? Thanks!" She smiled brightly at them.

"The new girl is the new member?" One of the guys whispered not so quietly to the other behing Kusakabe. "I didn't think Hibari-san would let such a weak looking person join, a girl nonetheless." Kusakabe smiled apologetically at Meru while she glared at them thoug they didn't see it. 'Just because I'm a girl and I look weak doesn't mean I am. I'll show them." She gritted her teeth and tightened her grasp around the guys arm thats been on her shoulder the whole time. She grabbed the arm with both hands and swung him off her shoulder, hurling it towards the two whispering guys that underestimated her. She grunted as she threw the body at them, catching their attention just in time to see a body flying towards them.

They let out a yelp as they fell to the ground with the body on top of them. Kusakabe turned to Meru with shock in his expression. "Francis-san, why did you do that?" He raised a questioning eyebrow. "I don't look so weak now do I?" She called out to the guys on the ground and puffed her cheeks childishly. "I understand but you didn't need to do that." He sweat dropped. "Here guys, have another one. We can all carry a person." Meru grabbed another unconcious body and threw it at the guys just as they were about to get up again. "Francis-san!" Kusakabe called out to her, checking on the guys to see if they were okay. "They're strong right? They can take a little pain." She harshly glared at them and they paled, quickly looking away from her.

Kusakabe only sighed and grabbed a guy from the ground, slinging him over his shoulder. Meru did the same and the two other guys followed suit, each grabbing a body that was thrown at them by the angered girl. "Though it's really convenient for you to appear or I would've have spent a while dragging these guys ony by one." Meru started walking next to Kusakabe. "Actually, Kyoya-san told us to take care of some rule-breakers behind the school but it looks like you got to them before us." He motioned his head towards the guy on his shoulder. "Eh?" Meru stared ahead confused. 'Wouldn't he take care of them himself? And he saw me handle them perfectly fine, why did he send Kusakabe-kun?' She thought to herself, unable to find an answer.

"Well it's a relief that you came. Thanks for helping!" She smiled at him. "Glad to help." He smiled back.

* * *

Meru leaned against the classroom door tiredly. Class was about to end but she didn't care that much, she was very tired from lack of sleep, fighting, and hurling bodies to places. "I knew school was going to be weird with Vongola Decimo and the guardians but I was not expecting it to be tiring." She closed her eyes and sighed before opening them again. Turning around, she held the door with one hand and opened it, putting on a smile that convinced everyone she was 'alright'. "Sorry I'm late! Committee business." She scratched the back of her neck sheepishly. "You're excused...please sit down.." The teacher muttered before continuing the last bit of the lesson Meru missed. She noted that she would have to get the notes from someone later and sat down besides Kyoko.

The orange-headed girl turned towards her and whispered. "Are you okay Meru-chan? You look sort of tired." She peered at said girl worriedly. Meru held her face in her hands and she turned towards Kyoko. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I just stayed up a bit last night reading." Meru waved her off kindly. "I see, get some proper rest, kay Meru-chan?" Kyoko smiled at her. She returned the smile and nodded.

The bell rang which means end of class and time for lunch. Most of the students just threw everything in their bags and ran out of the class, others just took their time and left when they needed to. Tsuna, Gokudera, and Yamamoto walked over to Meru and Kyoko. "Ah, can I borrow your notes Kyoko-chan? I'll give them back quickly." Meru pleaded Kyoko. The girl smiled brightly, digging through her bag. "Sure!" "Wah, you're such a good person Kyoko-chan. The guy to marry you will be the luckiest in the world!" Meru praised her, knowing Tsuna was in hearing range just behind her. She tried to keep in her laughter as she knew he was blushing, she could practically feel the heat coming from his direction. Kyoko blushed a little and shook her head. "I think the man to marry you will be lucky as well Meru-chan. You're so nice and cool!" She handed Meru the notebook and Meru gladly took it. "Well we'll just have to see who we marry huh?" Meru shook her head. Romance wasn't really something she was looking for. She wouldn't mind if it just came up but she'll never go searching for a relationship.

"U-uhm.." Tsuna tried to get their attention. The girls turned around and greeted them. "Hey Tsuna-kun! Take-kun! Gokudera." "Hello Tsuna-kun, Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto-kun." "Ah hello Kyoko-chan!" Tsuna blurted out, a blush forming on his cheeks. "Hey!" Yamamoto had his hands behind his head and smiled at them. Gokudera just grunted.

"So what brings you here?" Meru asked as she sat on top of her desk. "Err..We were wondering if you were okay after Hibari kept you back. He didn't do anything to hurt you right?" Tsuna asked worriedly. 'A lot of people seem to worry.' Meru smiled at the thought, glad that there was such kind-hearted people. "Yeah, turns out he was just giving me orders. Nothing bad!" Meru grinned. "Thats a relief." The small brunette sighed. "I think it's cool that Meru-chan is in the Disciplinary Committee!" Kyoko smiled innocently at everyone. They all thought the same thing. 'Why?'

"Keeping the school a good place is so honorable!" She turned to Meru who scratched her cheek. "Not really...If you're going to praise anyone, praise Hibari-kun." Meru hopped off the desk and fixed her skirt. The guys had a small look of shock on their face. "Hibari-kun may be really violent but he only attacks the rule-breakers and the people annoying him. Because everyone is so scared of him to break a rule, they won't do it if they want to stay alive." Meru pointed out.

Tsuna and them looked shocked but they soon understood her point. "You're the first girl to join that committee though, Meru-chan" Kyoko looked at her like she was a big hero. "Really? Well the guys in there are pretty rude and sexist though. I understand why there are no girls in there. Being confined in a room with a devil and rude, sexist men is not the place for a girl." She snarled. "Anyways, we should grab some lunch before we run out of time!" Meru grabbed Kyoko and they walked out of the room with the guys following.

"Hey Meru-chan, what's those ring on your finger?" Kyoko pointed to the sun and shadow ring. Meru turned around, eyeing Tsuna. He shook his head fiercely with a clueless Yamamoto and scowling Gokudera besides him. She nodded, getting the idea. Kyoko didn't know about the rings and Tsuna would like to keep it that way. 'Aww he's protecting her! But if she becomes an important person to him, she'll be involved either way. When will you man up and tell her?' The black haired girl barely smiled. "These were given to me by friends." Meru explained. "Oh, thats nice. They look like the same rings Tsuna-kun, Onii-chan, and the others wear!" Kyoko put a finger on her chin, recalling everyone she's seen those same rings on. Tsuna and the guys visibly tensed but only Meru saw. "They're friendship rings, to represent our friendship! I can make a ring for you too Kyoko-chan, it might not look the same though." Meru winked at Tsuna and smiled brightly at Kyoko. Tsuna silently sighed in relief, thankful that Meru was able to cover it up so well but he felt bad for lying to his crush so much.

"Really? You can do that? I'd love to have one made by you!" Kyoko grabbed Meru's hands and thanked her. Meru smiled sheepishly at the innocent girl. "No problem!" She replied cheerily. 'I'm sorry..' She thought sadly. Having to lie to a new friend is not what Meru wanted to do. And it's Kyoko-chan to top it off! The most innocent being on earth!

"Well let's hurry and get some grub!" Meru lightly skipped through the hallways with Kyoko. The guys stared at their leaving forms with guilty eyes. "Meru had to lie for all of us.. and to Kyoko-chan too." Tsuna rubbed his head, the guilt eating away at him. Yamamoto wasn't smiling and laughing like always and Gokudera didn't have a rude statement about anyone. "It's either you lie to the ppl you care about or bring them into the mess. Which is it Tsuna?" A sqeuaky voice came from below them. They all looked down and found Reborn standing in front of Tsuna. "I hate lying but it's too dangerous to involve Kyoko-chan! Mom, the kids and Haru too!" Tsuna furrowed his brows, knowing he could only do one thing at the moment. He couldn't even stop this crazy mafia business and it was worse that _he_ was the next boss. "You know you can't escape this. This isn't a little game you can quit whenever you want." Reborn jumped onto the window sill and sat down, staring at the three guys. "I know!" Tsuna cried out, obviously frustrated. A hand was placed on his shoulder and Tsuna looked up to see Yamamoto. "Everything will be fine! We'll be able to handle everything." He smiled at his smaller friend. Gokudera pushed Yamamoto aside to talk to his 'Jyuudaime'. "I'll take care of everything for you so don't worry Jyuudaime!" His white haired companion threw a fist in the air. "Yamamoto, Gokudera..." Tsuna stared at his friends. "But..what about Meru-san?" Then he turned his gaze to the ground. Reborn's eyes hardened and Yamamoto grew stiff. Gokudera didn't seem to care.

"Meru can take care of herself." Reborn answered. "But-" Tsuna began but Reborn cut him off. "She's smart enough to not use her shadow flames. She only uses her sun flames." "..."The small brunette glanced at his rain guardian. For once, he couldn't read Yamamoto's expression. "She's a guardian who can't use her own flame element, she's practically useless." Gokudera scoffed. "Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna gaped at his friend's rudeness. "We already have a Sun Guardian, its that idiot muscle head."

"But Meru can easily beat you with just her sun flames, Gokudera" Reborn tilted his fedora. "What?!" Gokudera hands clenched into fists. "If Meru were to use her Shadow flames, she could easily beat anyone, like Xanxus. But if she uses her Shadow flames, it will also place some damage on her. There's only a certain amount of time she can withstand using her shadow flames." "Eh? She's that powerful?" Tsuna was in awe. Its not easy to take someone like Xaxnus down. "And how long can she use her shadow flames?" He asked curiously. "Enough for a quick kill." The baby answered, hopping onto Tsuna's shoulder.

"Eeh?! A k-kill?!" He freaked out. The thought of killing sent a chill down his spine. "B-but Meru-san..!" He stuttered, the word "kill" just shaking his core. "Meru was trained to be in the mafia, she's still in training now and that means fighting and killing,Tsuna, you will have to do this sometime too." Reborn slapped Tsuna on the head. "Ow! B-but I c-cant k-kill someone!" He shook his head and made an 'X' with his arms. "Of course not, you're too lame and wimpy for that." Reborn insulted him as he hopped off his shoulder and onto the ground, walking away.

* * *

School was over and the halls were clearing out rapidly. While everyone had the luxury of going home right after school, Meru had to stay back and report to Hibari what happened during her patrol. She opened the door to the reception room and walked in, closing it behind her. Hibari was found sitting at his desk with Kusakabe standing in front of it. There were more Elvis-look-alikes sitting far,far away from the two in the back room. All heads turned to her as she entered. She ignore the stares and walked up to Kusakabe and Hibari. "Hey~ Here's the report. Now as you look at that, I'll take my leave. Bye~" Meru threw some papers on the desk and turned away quickly. She left before Hibari could call her back for anything.

Everyone stared at the empty spot Meru stood at previously and blinked. Some of the guys in the back didn't even see her leave the room, they just saw a black and white blur. Hibari and Kusakabe knew what happened and reacted much quicker than the others. Hibari ordered Kusakabe to bring her back and Kusakabe went into the halls. 'She just left so she couldn't be far.' Or so he thought. He walked quickly through the halls, since running wasn't allowed, and his eye caught a glimpse of something so he looked out the window. He saw Meru running out of the gate and waving to him, a smirk on her lips.

After a block or two, she slowed her pace until she was just walking. "Ha! I actually got away!" She giggled and inwardly cheered at her escape. She hummed happily as she walked home alone. If she didn't have to give the report, she would've been with Yamamoto and the guys already but it didn't turn out that way. It didn't matter though, walking home alone was good enough for her. Meru turned the corner and expected to see Yamamoto's house waiting for her but instead, she bumped into someone. Meru stumbled back a bit and held her forehead. "Ah, I'm so-" She looked up to apologize properly but her teal eyes met with hard, gray-blue eyes. "H-H-Hibari-kun?!" She jumped back and pointed at him exasperatingly. "Herbivore, you have unfinished business." He walked past her while she was distracted, still in shock. "H-how?.." She stared wide-eyed ahead and didn't react when he moved. It was obvious she wasn't going anywhere so as he walked past her, he grabbed the back of her collar, dragging her along with him. Meru snapped back to reality after feeling a tug on her neck and she tried to pry his hands off. "I'll walk! Let go!" She flailed around, begging for him to release her collar. He ignored her and just continued walking back to the school.

Annoyed, she dug her nails into his hand and he was forced to let go. He turned around and glared at her as she rubbed her neck. She felt his glare and returned it. "Thats what you get, you jerk." She stuck her tongue out at him, then walking back to the school herself, with him behind her. 'Jeez! Whats his problem? He doesn't know how to treat girls either. You can't just grab them by the neck, you're just asking to be called in for harrassment!' Meru growled with anger as she ignored the glare burning a whole in the back of her head. "So," She turned around and started walking backwards, facing Hibari. "What do you need me for?" She asked boredly. "Errands." He answered bluntly.

"Oh great.." She muttered sarcastically. They reached the school and Meru sighed. 'I just escaped this place...' she shook her head, dismayed. They walked back to the reception room where Hibari handed her a list of things she needed to do and Meru placed her bag down. She snatched the list from his hands and looked it over. A vein appeared on her forehead and she clenched the paper tightly in her hands. "I'll be back.." She gritted her teeth and walked to her bag, grabbing her phone and wallet. Her machete was still strapped to her thigh so she didn't need to worry about grabbing it. Taking all she needed, she left the room with a slam of the door and stomped through the halls. After she was a distance away from the school, she let out her anger. "This is a damn grocery list!" Meru angrily kicked the stop sign next to her with force and it snapped in half. The passerby's watched in fear and awe as she stomped away.

Another thing on the list said to use the Home Ec. room in the school to cook. "If they want something to eat, they could've bought something for themselves!" She growled, but an idea came to her and she smirked. "If food is what they want, its what they'll get." Meru sang as she ran towards the supermarket.

~After buying all the groceries~

Meru dumped all the bags on the counter as she took out pots, pans, bowls, a cutting board, and knives. She rolled up her sleeves and tied her hair up into a bun. She then pulled the apron on and washed her hands, ready to cook. "Alrighty then, lets get started!" She smiled deviously. "Everyone gets their own little bento box to eat from, it'll be nice." She whistled as she cut up the vegetables. Her orders were to cook for everyone in the committee so she figured everyone would get their seperate little bento box to eat from.

It did take a long time to cook everything and then organize them in all of the bento boxes (why are there so many guys in the committee?!). Meru put the finishing touches on them and stepped back wiping the sweat off her forehead. "They look so good it'd be a waste to give it to those pigs.." Meru pouted at her lovely creation. There were a whole bunch of boxes together on one side and 9 boxes on another. Those 9 boxes were special, so 9 people are going to get a special meal. Meru smiled brightly as she placed the boxes in 2 seperate bags. The smiling girl made her way to the reception room where Kusakabe was standing in front of the door. Once he saw her, he smiled. "Francis-san" He greeted her. "Please, just Meru is fine!" She smiled at him. She was seriously getting sick of hearing 'Francis-san' come from a japanese mouth. Just like how she was sick of hearing 'Meru' come from an american mouth. The pronounciation was just weird, too weird for her to handle. "Meru-san" He agreed to calling her that. 'You could've dropped the 'san' but alright..' She thought to herself.

"Kyoya-san and the others are waiting for you in the lunch room. Kyoya-san doesn't want it to be crowded in the reception room so we moved it there." He nodded to the direction they will be walking and Meru nodded, understanding what he said. "Alright then, let's go!" She held onto the bags, unable to keep her devious smile hidden. Good thing Kusakabe wasn't looking at her. While they were walking (it's a pretty long walk), Meru's phone received a text from her mom. She checked her phone and read it in her head.

From: Mommy (yes, I call her mommy, got a problem?)  
To: Meru  
Sent at 4:29 pm  
Message: Where are you? Takeshi is worried about you.

Meru deadpanned at the message. "But you're not worried about me?!" Her eye twitched. Meru askd Kusakabe to hold one of the bags as she responded.

To:Mommy  
Sent at 4:30 pm  
Message: Thanks for not worrying about me mother, it means a lot that my cousin cares more. At school, dealing with committee business. I'll come home later.

She sighed and put her phone in her skirt pocket. Kusakabe sent a questioning glance but Meru shook her head. "Nothing." She waved it off. They finally reached their destination and Meru opened the doors, seeing everyone sitting down. All of the guys filled up 2 big tables and Hibari sat at another table away from them. 'Of course." Meru rolled her eyes and walked towards the guys. She gave the special boxes first, making sure to give Hibari one and she asked Kusakabe to give the rest out. Meru walked to a table and pulled out a pack of plastic cups to fill with water and hand out. She was going to pass them out by herself since she wanted Kusakabe to eat too.

"I'll do it myself, you all just enjoy yourselves.." She smiled as she filled the cups. Meru distrubuted the water slowly, very slowly. "This tastes amazing!" One guy shouted out. "You're right!" Another one agreed. Soon, most of the guys were praising her food which she thanked and smiled at. "This is great Meru-san." Kusakabe complimented her. "Thanks!" She gave him an eye smile while in her mind, she was telling him he was absolutely lucky to not get a special box. But those 9 special people...

"It's delicious, but isn't something wrong?" Special person, Meru counted off. Another special person. "You're right..there's a new taste it in now.." "Was there spice put in this?" Special guy again.

"I don't taste any spice," Ah, Normal person. "Nothing's in here." Normal again. "I swear, I'm tasting something else." Special person. "Herbivore, what did you do." Hibari glared at her, as she feigned innocence. Meru scratched her head, a confused look on her face. "Eh? Is there something wrong? Maybe I messed up in the recipe somewhere..." She muttered loudly, trying to seem like she did nothing wrong.

In truth, Meru had placed super spicy ingredients in those 9 special boxes. She made it so the spice would kick into effect after a few minutes. "H-hey! This is starting to be really spicy!" Someone groaned, uneasiness in their voice. "My tongue feels like its burning!" "Herbivore" Hibari glared at her. She smiled at him innocently. "I'll bite you to death." He threatened. Meru could see a bead of sweat appear on his forehead and she smirked. "That is, if you can even bite with that spice burning the inside of your mouth."

"The wench planned this?!" An Elvis-look-alike who was unlucky to receive a special box shouted. The word 'wench' popped up again, making Meru totally pissed. She turned to him and glared harshly, it could even rival Xaxnus's glare. He froze, not even the spice could snap him out of his frozen state. "The choosing was totally random, I'm not a wench, and I heard that milk helps spices go away surprisingly. Oh, look what we have here, milk!" Meru pulled out a carton of milk out of her bag where the 9 boxes were. "Too bad I'm a wench, I would've given it to you if I wasn't one though. Sorry!" She clapped her hands together and apologized sarcastically.

Thats when the guys who received the special boxes realized they didn't have water either; Meru was apparently keeping tabs on who had the special boxes. She poured a cup of milk and handed it to Hibari. "You'll need this. Payback for the collar." She didn't look him in the eyes as she placed it down in front of him and she left to taunt the others.

"Some of you should already know what I'm capable of, so I'm making sure all of you know. Just because I'm a girl, it doesn't mean I'm weak. Don't you _dare _look down on me. Do that, and see what happens." She narrowed her eyes at every single one of them. "If anything, I bet I can beat all of you. The only exception is Hibari-kun, consider me on par, yeah?" She had a serious look in her eyes, telling them she was not joking at all.

"We'll see about that." Hibari aimed for her head with his tonfas but she dodged easily. Her eyes directed to the spot he sat at and she smiled. "Glad you're not burning up anyore?" She referred to the empty cup. He ignored her and aimed for her stomach. She dodged again.

"Look, stop before I stuff another piece of the meal into your mouth again." Meru glared at him. He glared at her and went for another hit. She could only roll her eyes at his stubborness and she grabbed the tonfa, slipping it out of his grip. The members watch in awe as Meru really was on par with their Head Member, but some of them remembered the burning sensation and ran to the milk (haha). They were ignored as Meru held the tonfa and Hibari growling at her. She threw the tonfa over his head, hoping he would try to catch it and he did. While he was busy with his tonfa, Meru ran out of there and back to the reception room to get her bag.

She reached the room with ease and was able to retrieve her bag but she couldn't leave since Hibari blocked the door. The cornered girl cursed as he ran towards her. 'Gotta think fast!' Her eyes searched the room quickly before landing on the open window. 'Perfect!' she thought as she ducked under Hibari and ran for the window, not hesitating to jump out of it. Meru landed on the ground safely and she ran towards the gate. 'No way he would follow me! I think everyone has had enough for today.' She bit her bottom lip as she looked behind her, hoping to find no one there.

She was in luck, no angry devil chasing her from behind. But that didn't stop her from running home. Made that mistake once, not gonna happen again. Even if it meant she had to run home everyday. "Oh man.." She groaned," He's going to give me hell tomorrow!"

* * *

Song: Lost Time Memory  
By:Kagerou Project  
Lyrics: (English) JubyPhonic


End file.
